One in a Hundred
by TeahTheFoxLover
Summary: Drabble/Oneshot collection. Now: Let's change just one bit, okay? Nothing serious, but let's liven up the beginning, hm? Here goes: Shinichi woke up in the morgue. Humor
1. Doing a Favour

**Disclaimer:** For this chapter, and henceforth the entire drabble collection, I shall announce that Detective Conan belongs to Gosho Aoyama, and certainly not an unworthy peasant much like myself.  
(I so like spitting this formal way of speaking^^)

* * *

**Title:** Doing a Favor**  
Genre:** General/Humor  
**Rating:** K  
**Warnings:** None  
**Words:** 839

* * *

"_Please, just this one more time?"_

_The boy sweat-dropped. "B-but, Takayama-san, you said the same last-"_

"_Really, Conan-kun, I already told you you can call me Minami-chan. Taku." A sigh was heard. "Please, I promise I'll make it up to you. I really can't make it today."_

"_B-but-"_

"_Please?"_

And so Conan found himself in front of this specific building again, sighing as he remembered the phone call he got just yesterday. He'd managed to shake off Ran with the 'playing at Agasa-hakase's house' excuse again, as gullible as she was. At least the professor didn't ask any questions, but he didn't know how long it'll last before even he got curious.

As he was escorted into the building, many of the staff met him with sympathetic smiles and greetings of "Ah, she did it again, didn't she, Conan-kun?" The boy almost face-palmed at the familiarity with the staff that worked here. Takayama-san really did do this too often to be just an occasional favor.

As they got closer to their destination, a stern-looking man blocked their path suddenly. He looked in befuddled confusion between Conan and his escorts, before settling his eyes on the man beside him with a strict frown.

"What is this? What is this child doing here? I thought Takayama-san was-"

"Ah, you must be new here. Excuse us, but it seems Minami-chan couldn't make it, so the child will be replacing her for today's session."

The man shot him an incredulous look. "Wha- Y-you must be kidding me! H-how can-"

"Don't worry, its starting to become a frequent occurrence already, so you'll get used to it pretty soon," the man continued completely ignoring the flabbergasted look on the other's face. "We have her special permission to do this and you can ask any of the staff here to confirm this has happened before. Now, shall we go, Conan-kun?"

"H-hai." Conan replied, still somewhat caught off-guard by the encounter. When they were a safe distance from the still gapping man, the boy turned to regard his escort with a raised eyebrow. "Frequent occurrence?"

"Ah," the man rubbed the back of his neck. He was already getting used to the child's astounding maturity, but it was still a little un-nerving to have those eyes so focused on you. "Well, it _is_ getting rather frequent, ne? With Minami-chan having her schedule so booked out because of the up-coming concert, I can't really blame her for it though. If it weren't for you, I'm sure she'd more likely be somewhere out there hiding out in a caffe bar than facing her duties."

The boy actually did sweat-drop at that, having had first-hand experience in the matter mentioned. "I guess so."

"Here we are," the man announced, opening a door to Conan. "I'll be in the adjacent room, alright?"

"Right." The boy replied.

Stepping into the room, he was met with a couple of familiar faces, all of them displaying only a momentary surprise at seeing him standing there. The first to speak was a young man with short light-brown hair and kind eyes.

"Ah, I see she did it again." He smiled apologetically. "You ready, Conan-kun?"

"Hai!" The boy chirped. Without preamble and with confidence gained from many previous experiences, he moved to a high stool in front of all the equipment and, with the help from one of the men, seated himself, put the head-phones on correctly and brought the microphone at an acceptable level for his small frame.

"Alright," A skeptical voice resounded through the room. Conan briefly recognized it as the newly employed man's that he met a few moments ago. "We'll be doing the same as last time. Begin."

As the music began, Conan closed his eyes and ignored the outside world, focusing only on the tunes that played around him, just like Takayama-san instructed him so many times before.

_BREAK MY LIES_

_Kakedasu senaka wo oikakete mou ichido_

_SAVE MY HEART!!_

_Hontou wa matteru… Dakishimete…_

_Ima RETURN TO LOVE!!_

As he waited for the first verse to start, Conan briefly allowed himself a bit of glee at the expression the skeptical man must be wearing now. And if he'd sworn he heard a strangled gasp somewhere behind the thick glass separating them to the adjacent room, he gave no indication to it beside a small up-turning of his lips.

_Tatta hitokoto ga sunao ni iezu ni kizutsuketa yo_

_Nakitai kurai ni nukumori kono te ni motome nagara_

_Keiken fuereba yume mo_

_Mujaki __ni mirenaku naru kara _

_Sore demo dokoka de kitto shinjitakute mitsumeteta__..._

Briefly, he wondered how it would be if these favours he did for Takayama-san somehow got out. He winced slightly, his melodious soprano voice not once missing a note.

_BREAK MY LIES_

_Hitomi ni yureteru shinjitsu ni kizuite_

_SAVE MY HEART!!_

_Furueru kuchibiru kuchizukete_

_Ima RETURN TO LOVE!!_

Oh, they'd _never_ let him live it down, that was for sure. Ah well, it wasn't as if they would believe a tone-deaf boy like him could accomplish this either way, no?

* * *

_**EDIT:** I did a few changes to the design, so all drabbles will be introduced in the same way. It's way more organized like this._


	2. If They Ever

_Inspiration by the song 'If we ever Meet Again' by Timbaland and Katy Perry._

* * *

**Title:** If They Ever**  
Genre:** Mystery  
**Rating**: K  
**Warnings:** None  
**Words:** 158

* * *

And as the helicopter departed from the scene, and as Shinichi was once again fully in his seat, and as Megure got his gun back where it belonged, and as the clock tower slowly started to become only a small spot in the luscious background of Tokyo's city lights, Shinichi had a distinct feeling about the encounter between the two.

He didn't know _how_, he didn't know _why_, but somehow, as he remembered the thief's challenging grin before he departed, he had a hunch they would meet again.

Only, with a sudden feeling of… _something_ (fear, anxiousness, excitement, nervousness, determination?) he was sure that wherever, whenever that encounter would take place, it would be… _different._

Looking at the streets below through the window of the police helicopter, Megure's praises of his contributions to the heist fading in the background, he somehow knew, deep inside, that, if they ever meet again, he would never be the same.

For life.

* * *

_**A/N:** Oh come on, I just couldn't resist! The wonderful music was playing on the radio, pictures sprang in my head, and it just HAD to be written! :D _


	3. What Size Again?

_**A/N**: My take on what would have happened in DC if you included bad weather, a cold, a misplaced criminal and Gin being a little more careful about blending in, not that it helped him much. This will keep you entertained for some time while school busies me :)_

* * *

**Title:** What Size Again?**  
Genre:** Humor/General  
**Rating:** T  
**Warnings:** Slightly altered timeline, humor  
**Words:** 3970

* * *

"Achooo!"

"Shinichi, really! This is all because you just had to go out in that bad weather and search for your stupid clues!" Ran scoffed as she looked at the sick teen. "Couldn't you have sent some forensic out there or something? You're a real baka detective, you know that?"

The teen in question attempted a light-hearted chuckle, but it quickly dissolved into a small coughing fit. Grin never leaving his face, he waited till it subsided enough to answer his long time childhood friend. "Ah, Ran, but then it wouldn't have been half as exciting to corner the criminal as usual!" Another cough. "Besides, forensics tend to report first to their superiors and _then_ to snotty high school wanna-be detectives. It would've been no fun that way." He sniffed.

"Either way…" Ran replied, her face losing the scornful look as worried eyes fell on him again. "You should have stayed home, Shinichi. We could have always made the trip to Tropical Land some other day. You shouldn't have pushed yourself too much over this."

Pulling the hat he was wearing more securely on his head, and the scarf tighter around his neck to preserve warmth in the almost chilling weather, Shinichi glanced at her in obvious annoyance. "Baka. The entire next week is said to be raining cats and dogs, and temperatures are only going to get lower from now on. Besides," He grinned at her, hand coming up to the section of his scarf where the back of his neck would be. "I promised, didn't I? You won the karate championship, so a deal is a deal."

His answer was an irritated huff, the girl's head turning the other way to hide the light blush gracing her cheeks. "Just don't overexert yourself, baka detective. I don't want to drag your dead weight home when you pass out in the middle of the park."

The boy just sighed in relief. Argument avoided. He'd really rather not be at the mercy of her right hook just because he decided to go out in the state he was in.

But really, Ran should have known better by now. Once he saw a clue, he would follow it till he was sure of his theory was correct and the right man behind bars. And if that included going out in an inconveniently bad weather to look for rope and hook indentations on the stone balcony of the deceased's room, then who was she to blame him? But she probably already knew that, better than himself in fact. How many times had he stood up a meeting with her to solve a case? He'd lost count already, and that was an accomplishment in itself.

So he wouldn't miss this one. There haven't been any cases since that last one he solved, and the weather was looking surprisingly good for the chilly time of year. The only negative part of it was his being sick, and he wouldn't let a silly thing like a that keep him from upholding his promise to Ran _this time_. And if this whole trip to Tropical Land just _screamed_ 'Date' in his face…

Occupied by his musings as he was, it took him a moment longer than it should to register a specific part of the girl's speech. A part mentioned twice already, much to his embarrassment.

"Hey, who are you calling 'baka detective'?!" He exclaimed indignantly.

"Got that part only now, huh? Maybe you're not such a great detective after all."

"Now wait a mo-"

A hand grabbed his own, his body being dragged forwards by the surprisingly strong one leading him on. He heard a few giggles emanate from ahead, and couldn't stop his own grin from donning his face, mood substantially better than a moment before.

"Come on, I want to try the roller coaster they have here! I heard Sonoko saying it was great!"

"Yeah, yeah, you don't have to drag me all the way. I can walk on my own, you know." His voice lacked its normal annoyance though, only good natured humor showing through. "So, where was it again?"

"Umm…" She contemplated, a finger reflexively coming to rest on her bottom lip in thought (privately Shinichi thought it was cute) and her pace slowing down enough to let an almost panting Shinichi (only due to the cold, Shinichi would later say) catch up to her. She pointed in a random direction. "That way, I think. We should be able to see it soon."

"Good, then let's-"

"THIEF! Don't let him get away!"

Both teens jerked at the shrill scream, their feet taking them in the direction to the source without a falter, showing just how much similar experiences to these they'd had before. Just as they turned a corner, a body collided with Shinichi's own, sending him sprawling to the ground and making him let go of Ran's hand. There was no time for blushing and squeaking at the fact they'd been holding them together this whole time without realizing, as Shinichi quickly realized this was the criminal in question that was lying on top of him. The thief was quick to recover and resume his flight though, and Shinichi scrambled to quickly stand up and give chase.

Ran was already a few steps ahead of him, well on her way to beat the living daylights out of the man, but faltered in her steps momentarily at the sound of her friend's vicious coughing fit. It was enough for the criminal in question to slip around another corner and become lost in the crowd, the task of catching him becoming almost impossible now.

Realizing it wouldn't matter if she gave chase again anyways, Ran quickly ran back to the still coughing teen's side, kneeling by him and offering a few claps across the back to help him get over it.

"Baka detective! I knew you weren't that well! You should have stayed at home."

The other was helpless against her scorns, being unable to reply until the coughs subsided. _'Ouch,'_ Shinichi amended_. 'Next time, don't let a body collide with you and make you almost cough your lungs out. Ouch.'_

Once the coughing fit subsided, they both just waited there a moment longer for Shinichi to catch his breath, him still kneeling on all fours, and Ran crouching by his side with worried eyes.

"We should really bring you home. I don't want you to pass out here or something."

Shinichi just shrugged and sniffed loudly, wounding his scarf tighter around him as he pulled himself up. He'd wanted to say something, but was beaten by a soft woman's voice behind them.

"Umm… Excuse me, are you alright?"

Both of them turned to see a young woman around their age peering at them curiously. If one had to describe her, then the only word would be… ordinary. Her light brown hair and dark eyes easily blended in with the crowd, the freckles on her face and large round glasses being the only thing making her stand out a bit. She was looking at them curiously, her hand nervously gripping the strap of her purse.

Ran was quick to recover, waving her hand in an offhand manner and smiling politely. "Ah, no, he's alright. He's just caught himself a cold and his pride wouldn't have let him stay at home. He's really stubborn when it comes to that."

"Oi, oi! Stop acting like I'm not even here. Sheesh, I'm not some little kid." Shinichi sniffed in disdain, as well as for real.

"Oh really? Could have fooled me." She ignored his indignant 'Hey!' and continued as if he hadn't interrupted at all. "Besides, I should have known better. Whenever _you_ have a cold, it's always of the heavy bed-ridden sort, where walking around shouldn't even be allowed."

The woman who'd been watching their casual banter softly cleared her throat to get their attention. Once they'd both turned to her, both sheepish they'd almost forgot about her, she gave them a light bow. "I just wanted to thank you for trying to stop the man. Thankfully, when he collided with you he must've accidentally dropped Hitomi's purse, because we found all of her missing things in it. Well, not all…"

The woman glanced off to the side in sorrow. Turning in the same direction, they found three people standing together in a group some distance away, two of them reassuring the third one (a woman, also around their age, with long dark brown hair wearing a blue suit). Their words didn't seem to affect her though, even when she got her purse back, as she just kept mumbling to herself, numbly looking at the returned item.

The woman in front of them sighed softly, turning her attention back to them. "Only her necklace wasn't found. I don't know who she got it from, or why she carried it in her purse, but it seemed very important to her…" She sighed again, turning to head back to her group. "Well, I have to go now. I just came here to thank you. Thanks again for helping us."

And she was gone. Soon after that, the group of four left, leaving them to blink at the abruptness of their encounter. She hadn't even introduced herself.

After a few more arguments on Shinichi's health and Ran better enjoying the day, they decided to go on one more ride before taking Shinichi home, despite all his protests he didn't need a babysitter. After all, why waste a perfectly good opportunity to enjoy an amusement park?

And amuse themselves they did. The ride on roller-coaster was great, if not giddy in Shinichi's opinion, as he remembered Ran clutching his hand in fear. The only argument they'd had after that was of Ran commenting how she was glad she didn't have to hear him rambling on about Holmes now that he was so sick his voice was a tad too hoarse to speak for too long.

As they were getting of the cart, Shinichi's eyes were immediately drawn to two figures in black that were up next. They stood out like a sore thumb amongst all the excited crowd, their faces serious and cold. They didn't seem the type for roller-coasters at all…

"Come on, Shinichi, time for you to go home. And don't try to guilt-trip me anymore into staying longer, I've had it with you sneezing all over the place."

"Yeah, yeah, coming. Wouldn't dream of defying you again, mother."

He dodged the playful swat at his head, his hat only angling a bit further up his face, making almost nothing but his eyes visible to other passer-by. He didn't bother adjusting it; it covered his forehead better and kept away the slight headache he was starting to feel.

Although, as they passed by the men in black, he couldn't help but overhear a part of their conversation.

"Keep still, Vodka, or do you want to stand out more than we already do?"

"But it's already two hours past the time of the transaction…"

"If he wants it back, then he'll be waiting. Now shut up before you…"

The rest was too faded to hear as Ran had already dragged him out of earshot, but Shinichi had heard enough.

Excusing himself to Ran, saying she should go ahead while he went to retrieve something he forgot, he left her standing there, in the fading twilight, her hand still outstretched in the direction he'd taken off. Faltering for a few moments on what to do, and fighting against the ominous feeling of dread creeping up from the pit of her stomach, she decided to better just take Shinichi's advice and go ahead. She was sure he'd take a different route out anyways, just to avoid her mothering him.

Really, sometimes that detective otaku acted like such a kid that even she forgot herself.

But she'd be waiting for him at his house, he was still sick after all.

* * *

Thunk!

Thump!

"Aniki!"

"You were followed." Gin sneered. Vodka didn't seem to notice. The shorter of the two started to pull out his gun, intent clear in the gesture, but the silver-haired man stopped him with a cold look.

"Wait, there still might be police around searching for some thief." He took out a small metal box from his black cloak. "Let's use this. A new poison the organization developed. Once consumed there's no way of detecting it..."

He grabbed the nosy person by the thick hat, his fingers clutching through the material at the hair so he didn't have to take it off. He pulled the scarf down just enough to reach the mouth and pushed the capsule between weakly clamped together lips. Making sure it was swallowed, Gin let go off the hat and let the body fall back to the ground, face first in the muddy grass below.

"Although it hadn't been tested on humans before… Well, you'll just be our first experiment then." He grunted derisively, tipping his hat for good measure.

"Goodbye, whoever you are. Not that I care."

And he didn't.

Behind them, a hand clutched at a clump of grass, the body it belonged to spasming from the amounts of pain it was subjected to. The hat and scarf hiding most of the features, not that Gin cared to get a good look at them, only added to the heat almost burning the body alive from within.

'_Heh,'_ Shinichi mused. '_At least the fever is going to go away.'_

* * *

As the last rays of the fading sunset died down and the chill of the night crept up, a small form stirred behind the public bathroom of Tropical Land amusement park.

The boy clutched his head, blood already forming a dark red speck on the back of the thick material of his hat, and briefly wondered why it covered him all the way across his eyes. It was almost as if it was too big…

It took one moment to look around himself to remember the events that had happened there not too long ago. He gave a brief gasp, recalling all of it, and left in a hurry to get back home safe.

Behind him, a scarf too large to stay around his neck remained.

And then he ran by a shop window.

* * *

The man strolled behind the small building, looking around himself curiously. He checked his watch again, sighed in dismay, and prepared himself for a long wait.

He didn't have to wait long. A pipe, lifted from a bush off the site, was all that was needed.

The woman dropped it as soon as the man hit the ground, the fatal wound on the back of his head bleeding heavily. She left quickly after that, her parting words being the last ones the man would ever hear.

"I wanted it to be your necklace, but I guess you didn't deserve even that."

Neither of them noticed the discarded scarf beside the man's head, nor the second bloodied pipe safely buried a distance away.

* * *

"Ra-an! You don't have to drag me by the hand!" Shinichi whined.

The girl just gave him an absolutely evil look, never faltering in her long late night return to the Mouri agency. "You think so?" Her tone was so sugar sweet it almost gave him a toothache. "You certainly seem like it. Attitude _and_ age wise."

Shinichi just groaned.

_-Flashback-_

_It took some time to get Agasa to believe him, especially since he was more concerned about tending to his expe__riment than listening to a kid blabbering about men in black in front of his house. It was only when Shinichi, who had followed a panicked looking Agasa in the house, had seen the soon-to-explode machine in the living room and kicked it out the window in his usual fashion, that Agasa started listening to him. And with a bit of deduction and showing-off, he soon had the professor helping him figure out what could have brought this particular situation on._

_Bur first, as Agasa-hakase had said, Shinichi needed clothes. Kiddie clothes. And he was non too thrilled about it._

_So they went to Shinichi's house, discussing the teen's state on the way._

"_Can't you just invent some sort of antidote and cure me, hakase?"_

_The professor sighed as they made themselves comfortable in the library, Shinichi sitting on the edge of the desk as the older man stood by his side. "It's not that simple, Shinichi. If this poison was really untraceable, then there would be more than just a few lucky guesses needed. This is a complicated top notch poison of the weirdest kind…" He brought a hand to his temple. "Without a sample, I don't know if I'll even be able to say what exactly brought this on, Shin-" _

"_Shinichi?_

_Both heads turned sharply at the sound, Shinichi quickly scrambling off the desk and attempting to hide (why, even he didn't know). Unfortunately, by dangling his feet in midair a moment ago, the hoses of his pants had slid down his legs and pooled at the floor, causing him to trip over them as soon as he attempted the first step for safety. _

_The result was a rather heavily sprawled out not-child in the middle of the room, the hat falling over his eyes and professor standing by the side, not knowing whether to laugh or sigh at the failed attempt of covering._

_It was this sight that greeted Ran when she entered the library._

_She took one look at the moving pile of clothes on the ground, eyebrow raised, and turned to the professor with an inquiring look. "Professor? What's this?"_

_Suffice to say, the professor was at a lack for words__, having not yet prepared for a situation like this. He scratched the back of his head, no good explanations coming forth. "A-ah…You see…"_

_But Ran was already moving__ to the groaning pile's side and helping it to sit upright. Small hands fumbled out of the too big jacket sleeves, rolling them hastily up to the forearms. Having completed the task, they then reached to pull the hat up from his eyes, but stilled abruptly in the action. Ran blinked at the tight-fisted grip the child had on the fabric._

_Meanwhile, beneath the hat__, Shinichi was internally panicking. _'What to do? What to do? I can't let her- Or can I… No I can't- But then how… Oh God, she'll never let me live this down!' _were some of the many thoughts the detective was having at that moment. He didn't dare speak, didn't dare move, didn't dare to even lift the hat enough to look at Ran, because then-_

_And as light suddenly flooded his vision, Shinichi became aware of the decision already being made for him._

_With horror written upon__ every inch of his face, he _slowly_ turned to meet Ran's own shocked one, the hat in her hand almost tearing from the force she was clutching it with._

_Silence reigned for a moment._

"_Shinichi?"_

_Another moment of silence._

"…_Err, yeah?"_

_And another._

_And then-_

"_Why is there blood on your hat?"_

…_Well. That wasn't the first thing Shinichi expected to come out of her mouth at the sight of him._

_-End Flashback-_

And that was how Shinichi found himself, after a lengthy explanation, some mothering from Ran and very much teasing and planning from both her and the professor, on the way to his new temporary home, the Mouri agency.

He still couldn't believe how calmly Ran had accepted the whole situation, bypassing the freaking out stage completely and jumping straight to the teasing with an ease of a gleeful woman having dreamed of something like this happening her entire life. He still couldn't stop fuming and blushing from all the hugs she'd given him because of his cuteness and all the plans she'd told him of buying kiddie things for him, as his own were, in her opinion, either too out of date or of his own choosing (which basically meant not acceptable in the world of ANY fashion).

He wondered if he'd ever get his dignity back after this whole 'shrunken by a pill' affair ended.

The boy gave an indignant squawk as he was suddenly lifted from the ground, legs flailing in the air and body helpless against the surprising turn of events.

"Mou, stop squirming, baka detective, I'm just lifting you up!"

At the sound of her voice, Shinichi's legs stilled in their frantic movements, his glare at his long time friend hateful and accusing. "Well, don't do it! I don't need to be carried like some snotty seven-year-old! I'm seventeen goddamn it!"

The other just nodded absent-mindedly. "Of course you are. But since this seventeen year old can't keep his pace up with a girl the same age as him, then the girl will save her time and just carry the other in her arms."

And it was at that moment that Shinichi realized he'd not only let himself be man-handled, but was now being comfortably carried at the hip of the girl he'd only recently started viewing in a different light. He groaned, burying his face in her shoulder.

Oh, he would_ never_ live this down.

* * *

In the dark room, the small TV was the only source of light. Flashes illuminated a low-level couch in front of the machinery, as well as the cold green eyes facing it.

"…_was found dead in Tropical Land. __Official report says he was hit by a pipe in the back of the head and died from blood loss soon after…"_

A hand, covered by black leather gloves, held a purple cell-phone. A number was typed and a hand started for the dial button.

"_The culprit was found out to be the ex-girlfriend of the deceased-"_

The hand stilled.

"_-who had been unstable and on extensive medications for a longer amount of time. Friends and family are shocked, having never-"_

And pressed.

Two ring tones later, and a gruff voice picked up.

"Vodka," the cold eyes flashed in the darkness. "Confirm the death."

He hung up. Nothing more needed to be said.

* * *

"Ran! What the _heck _is this?"

"What do you mean?"

"This… this monstrosity!"

Ran looked at the small pajamas covered with fuzzy bunnies. "I don't see anything wrong with it, Conan-kun."

"Like he-"

"Brat, you better pay respect to your elders or you're gonna have another bump on your head!" A voice yelled from the other room.

"H-hai…"

Shinichi slumped.

Ran grinned evilly.

* * *

A few days later, 'Conan-kun's' previous cold made a comeback. As he lay in his bed with a serious case of fever, Ran scolded him mildly.

"You really shouldn't have gone out in the weather." The girl sighed. "Rest, baka detective, I'll get some more tea for you."

But Conan didn't hear her. His head was pounding, his body ached, and most importantly, he felt like he'd have a heart attack then and there. As she left the room, the pain peaked, and peaked, and peaked…

And it was too a peculiar sight that she returned with a cup of tea. They stared at each other.

...

"…Don't tell me you'll revert back every time you have a fever, Shinichi."

"…hngh?" was the weak reply.

"Well." She still stared at him. "Well, seems like Conan-kun will be in quarantine because his nee-chan didn't want the bug spreading around."

Shinichi managed to make an affirmative noise, his body not yet willing to move after the sudden onslaught of pain.

"And Shinichi~" She sang just before the door closed. "Put some clothes on."

Shinichi squeaked, suddenly fully energized, before realizing he still had the blanket over his most private parts.

That evil grin of hers was back full force.

Payback, sweet payback.

* * *

_**A/N:** So, whatcha think? I'm not going to continue this, but I may post one or two more drabbles in this verse later on (I already got some plans). Anyone is welcome to adopt it though, just make sure you PM me first and get my permission. It's an interesting AU theory, ne? n_n_


	4. Hormones

_My, I can't believe I actually forgot to put this up on FF! XD Anyway, my first story of possible M rating, isn't that great?! Oh, I love this tidbit that my insane mind had produced in its resolve to avoid studying!_

_So Conan and Heiji are watching porn... Heiji gets curious. Conan explains. Heiji is traumatized._

* * *

**Title:** Hormones  
**Genre:** Humor  
**Pairings:** KaiShin, HeijiKazuha  
**Rating:** M  
**Warnings:** Yaoi, rating is for mentions of porn and the effects it has on male teenagers  
**Words: **1014

* * *

"Bring me a soda?" the boy asked.

"Like Hell. Go get it yourself." The other teen grumbled, gaze focused on the screen. The smaller of the two scoffed, but stayed where he was, arms crossed over his chest leisurely.

There was no light in the room, and the barren atmosphere of the Kudo mansion, where Heiji and Kudo had decided to make an escape from their fated others for the evening, only added to the increased echo of the late night show. …_Very_ late night show, if you got the drift.

After a half an hour had passed, Heiji glanced at his chibi-sized friend, shifting subtly on the couch.

Nothing.

The not-quite-child continued to stare at the screen, eyes alight with the same interest any other sane teenager would show, but other than that… nothing.

Heiji shifted once more, his body unable to simply disregard the sounds and images coming from the TV in front of him.

After another five minutes, he finally couldn't handle it anymore. He needed a distraction.

He turned to regard his companion curiously, willing himself to ignore the certain sounds from the TV.

"Oi, doesn't it affect ya?" he asked, curious. Then a slow grin made its way onto his face. "Or had that boyfriend of yers gotten every last bit of straightness outta ya?"

The boy was slow in his response, quietly glancing at him, eyes sliding downward for a fleeting moment. "Already affected?" he drawled, eyebrow arching questionably. "I guess Kazuha's giving you a hard time again, hmm?"

Heiji felt himself blush slightly, feeling grateful for the darkness of the room hiding it from clear view. He felt like shoving the not-child of the couch, but reigned in the urge. Moving was the last thing he wanted to do with his… problem. He turned back to the screen, fuming quietly.

"But, if you insist… and haven't already figured it out..." The Osakan focused half a gaze on the boy, the other continuing to watch the… show. "It's because I'm a kid."

The teen blinked, turning his head fully to his companion, confused by the answer.

"Huh?"

Conan sighed, glaring at him exasperatedly. "Hattori, this body is seven years old."

Heiji still didn't get it. Conan closed his eyes for a second, almost like _he_ was the one fighting the urge to shove _Heiji_ of the couch.

"Hattori," he pronounced every syllable slowly, as if the teen beside him was mentally retarded. "Have you ever seen a seven-year-old kid sporting an erection?"

The other blinked. And blinked again. And then comprehension dawned in his eyes. Conan rolled his own as the physically older boy suddenly blushed, feeling stupid for not seeing the connection earlier. Really, sometimes the Detective of The West could be as dense as a rock.

A few moments passed, both of them turning their attention back to the TV. Pictures flashed and sounds echoed through the room, but somehow Heiji found himself unable to concentrate on it any longer.

"Sooo…" he asked after a moment or two. "Yer saying ya can't get a hard on no matter what, yet ya have a teenage mind there trapped in a child's body? ...Must suck, man. Really suck."

The other 'hmm'-ed, shifting as he made himself more comfortable in the soft couch pillows. "Well, not _exactly_…"

A head was turned sharply at this, Heiji's mind still focused on the newfound fact about his friend, and his detective instincts still screaming _'Find out more!' _

"What'cha mean?"

The boy didn't take his eyes of the screen. "Well, it's not like I'm _not_ affected. I do feel pleasure, and I do, in effect, react to it; it's just that, when my brain tells my hormones to start acting up, they can't, because well… they don't exist."

The Osakan nodded, taking in the answer. He grabbed his soda from the coffee table and shook it, glad to note he still had some left, unlike Kudo. "But then, how does th' brain cope with it if it can't produce them?"

A small glint appeared in Conan's eyes, watching as the Osakan neared the can to his mouth. "Oh, it _does_ produce them, only not at the time. Rather, it sends information to produce, but since it can't do it, it just builds up, and up, and _up_…" he tapped his temple with his index finger, as if to magnify the significance of the sentence. He patiently waited till the Osakan took a long drink of the soda before dropping the bomb. "Until it can finally unleash them all in one go."

The fountain that spewed out of Hattori's mouth was most amusing to the not-child. He barely held back the full-blown laugh desperately wanting to escape and somehow managed to contend himself with a particularly devious smirk.

The other, however, wasn't having so much luck. He coughed and thumped his chest for good measure, before giving a wide-eyed look at the bespectacled boy, gaping stupidly.

"K-Kudo!"

"You're cleaning that mess up later."

"T-to hell with th' mess! You- That what ya said- ya can't- don't tell me-!"

The child just smirked at him wider, arms still crossed over his chest, shoulders still slumped, the perfect posture of smugness just radiating off him.

"Oh yes, the days I get my 'growth spurts', Kaito is one very happy camper."

Heiji's face suddenly contorted in a horrified expression.

Oh, _Hell_ no. He was _NOT_ having this conversation with Kudo.

"Actually, there was this one time where I transformed in a janitor's-"

"NOT LISTENING!" The Osakan shouted, falling off the couch in a frenzy, his problem now no longer a problem, and fleeing to the kitchen at high-speeds that would have left even the teleporting-capable Kaito blinking.

A child's laughter followed him all the way, but to Heiji it seemed more like that of a demon. Of a truly demented demon set on frying his brain with mental images he was as of yet still unprepared to see.

"Care to bring the soda, once you decide to return? Thank you~!"

He hated that guy. He really did.

* * *

_I'm frankly surprised no one made a drabble like this before. I keep imagining Kaito limping out the house after such a looong exciting day with Shin-chan, a dazed smile on his face and drool still dribbling from his mouth XD And I found out I loved traumatizing Heiji, he has the most wonderful of reactions!_

_R&R!_


	5. Silver Bullet

_Was inspired by a comment on dA. Even though I don't remember who it was, thank you! Was also trying to see how much I can ramble on description in one drabble.

* * *

_

**Title:** Silver Bullet  
**Genre:** Angst/Mystery  
**Pairings:** None  
**Rating:** K  
**Warnings:** None  
**Words: **931

* * *

"So, you're the little Shin-kun Yukiko 's been telling me about so much, hmm?" The woman in front of him smiled, her lips pulling into a thin line with the movement. Lightly curled blond strands gracefully slid past her shoulders as she bent down to his level, her youthful face that much more closer to his own. "You're just as cute as she described you."

The small child at the mercy of her attention couldn't help the slight rosy dusting coloring his cheeks. She was a pretty lady after all.

Backing away from the woman's proximity, still not used to such close contact with other people despite recently acquiring a first female friend, the boy took a deep breath before almost visibly recomposing himself. The slight blush left his cheeks, and the wide-eyed look of surprise at the newest house guest quickly morphed in a half-lidded, half-interested gaze. Hands were tucked into pockets and shoulders slumped to appear annoyed.

"Iie, my name is Shinichi. Okaa-san just has a weird compulsion of giving everybody even weirder nicknames."

The woman chuckled, a light melodious sound, and the child's still young mind found itself almost enthralled by it. He was startled out of his thoughts, and act, as a well-manicured hand ruffled his hair up.

"H-hey!"

"Well, well, and I see she wasn't exaggerating about your brightness either! Such big words for a seven-year-old child! You really are quite the unusual thing."

The boy brushed the hand away with a more honestly annoyed look than before, smoothing it back down to its original style with a few well-placed pats. "It's not that big of a deal. I just read a lot of my Tou-san's mystery books."

"Oh?" she asked, appearing intrigued. "You interested in crime?" Her eyes gave an odd gleam at the revelation, but Shinichi, as a still innocent child, hardly noticed it.

"Yes- Well, no... I'm more into the detective books, really." He scratched the back of his neck embarrassedly, the same way as almost every other time he found himself talking about his favorite subject. "Someday, I think I'd like to become a detective." he proclaimed, his eyes looking up to meet the woman's ones with determination evident in them. "And… and not just any! I'd like to be the best one out there!"

"Really?" she murmured, her back slowly straightening as she peered at him with a raised eyebrow. "And what, pray tell, would the best detective do?"

The boy faltered. "W-what do you mean?"

Her smile thinned even further, seeming more mocking than before. "What would the best detective in the world be doing? It's a very important question."

The child stared at her, musing about the question. He thought about what he would do, if he ever became a great detective as he dreamed of. Sure, the best detective would only take on the best cases, but…

"I will solve cases. Any cases I come upon. I'll find out how it was done and who the bad guy behind it is, and I'll do everything in my power to bring them to justice. There is only one truth."

The woman gazed at him intently, her eyes almost piercing his soul with their icy shade of blue. Somehow, Shinichi saw it as an assessment, a test he had to pass in the woman's book to gain her appraisal of his dream, his goal in life. Several moments stretched in silence, their eyes never leaving each other, both standing their ground.

Finally, just as the boy, uncomfortable with such attention being directed at him, started almost squirming under the cold blue eyes, the woman smiled. It wasn't a normal smile either. Somehow, it seemed more... satisfied, pleased, superior.

Later, he would find out it was called a smirk. Later, much later he would find out who it was from.

And even then, it would be too late to stop the adopted expression from curving his lips upwards, almost mockingly, every time he stared down at a cornered criminal.

But that was later. Not then and there, in that dim entry hallway, with only two of them alone as his mother had briefly departed to answer the phone. No, then and there, only Chris', Sharon's, Vermouth's foreboding smile mattered.

"Anyone, eh?" She closed her eyes briefly, as if reminiscing, the smile still on her face. "Well then, little Raven chaser, I hope your dream comes true."

She stood up from her kneeling position, rummaging through her purse before pulling out a blank piece of paper and a pen. She scribbled something on it, taking a deep breath as she did so, almost as if in deep relief.

"I think mine just did."

He accepted the paper without comment.

"And work on that Pokerface, will you? It may come in handy one day." She winked.

* * *

Years later, Edogawa Conan stared at the yellowed piece of paper. Small, non-sensical and at the time irrelevant, the note soon got lost amongst the circulating schoolwork and case files in his room. Given by a foreign woman that never visited again, it soon got forgotten. Left behind for all these years to gather dust in the shadows of his bed, it never crossed his mind.

Now, though, the boy stared at the newfound piece of paper.

The words made sense to him now, the English not so complicated and the feminine scrawl not so undecipherable as it would have been to his seven-year-old self back then.

_Keep an eye out for __the black, Silver Bullet._

Yet it left only more questions in its wake.

* * *

_Confusing, isn't it. I think so too o.O Your thoughts?_


	6. Kindergarten

_Hmmm... Conan is really short for his age, isn't he? I'd even say he was... too short? *grins deviously*

* * *

_

**Title:** Kindergarten  
**Genre:** Humor  
**Pairings:** None  
**Rating:** K  
**Warnings:** None  
**Words: **683

* * *

"Children, I'd like you to meet Edogawa Conan. Conan-kun will be joining us from now on, so please be kind and play with him. I'm sure you'll get along great!"

"Konichiwa, Conan-kun!" The children in the room chorused, excited about the newcomer.

The woman who'd introduced him gave him a nudge, probably hoping he'd soon find something to do and not break down in tears as most of children do in a new unfamiliar place. Conan barely felt it in his plight.

He took a moment to examine the room. It had a wooden parquet , with small carpets here and there. Toys littered the floor, cheerful colors spread around the room to give it a more welcoming feel for the children residing in it most of the day.

Kindergarten.

The teenager-turned-boy wanted to cry. Or scream. Or kick up a fuss. Probably break a few things with his new super-powered shoes, but that would be too hard to explain, so he just settled for slumping his shoulders.

Why? Why had they done this to him?

Kindergarten.

Ran. That traitor. Even if she didn't know his true identity, she should have at least remembered how short he'd been when he was a kid. Well, a kid for the first time, at least… He _could_ have made it to Elementary.

But no, he wasn't spared this horror, not even in the slightest.

_Kindergarten._

For the millionth time that day, Conan cursed his short height. The first time around had been Hell enough, being considered younger than he was and constantly asked if he was visiting his onii-chan in the Elementary, but now, now he really…

_FIVE_ years old.

"Uh, hullo, Conan-kun!" The voice broke him out of his depression. He looked up to see a few kids standing in front of him, all of them a bit hesitant. Belatedly he realized they must've been scared of the scowl on his face - he did his best to hide it. Apparently he did well enough, since the boy brightened a bit more. "Erm, woul' you like to play wiff us? We've gonna play a racin' game!"

And he held out a toy car for Conan to take.

_You can't be serious about this._

The girl beside him sneezed.

The boy screamed, dropping the car and backing away in fright as he screamed "Ahh, girl cooties!"

The other boys followed suit.

The girl burst in tears.

The caretaker sighed exasperatedly.

Conan wanted the ground to open up and swallow him.

And then, a scream broke out. Seems like somebody murdered the janitor.

Poor Shinichi.

* * *

-Omake-

"Hey, kid!"

'_Who you're calling 'kid'?' _Conan thought as he looked up at the boy named Genta, completely unfazed by the other's intimidating face. _'I'm older than you by at least ten years.'_

"Yeah?"

"Don't 'yeah' me, you little runt! I'm older than you, so call me 'senpai'! It's the least you can do after we let you follow us into that haunted house. Tch, we only bringed you because you're Ayumi-chan's friend! Where she found a snotty brat like you…"

Conan's eyebrow twitched. _'It's 'brought', you idiot, not 'bringed.''_ But he held his mouth shut smartly.

He looked back at the girl that he'd met in the park a few days earlier. The grade-schooler had latched onto him the minute he'd met her, happy to have a new friend. She'd been surprised to find out he was actually two years younger than her (Ha! At least _she_ could see past the short height and consider him her age – he still didn't know whether to preen at that or feel even more humiliated), then proceeded to blush furiously for no reason at all.

Girls.

"Genta-kun! Be nice to Conan-kun, he protected me from that old lady! I… I've been so scared back then, but he… he kept me safe…" The last part was mumbled, a faint blush rising to her face once more.

Genta and Mitsuhiko didn't miss it, if their glares in Conan's direction were any indication.

The boy slumped in defeat.

_Can't a guy get a break?_


	7. Cool Kid

_This I wrote almost a week back, when trying to distract myself from another work of mine. I've always wondered, and the idea was just too good to pass up!_

_Didn't know who the boss of the FBI is nor wanted his name to get involved so I just called him 'man'. ^^;  
_

* * *

**Title:** Cool Kid  
**Genre:** General  
**Pairings:** None  
**Rating:** K  
**Warnings:** None  
**Words: **1351

* * *

"Sir-"

"I cannot believe this transgression. A seven-year-old, Agent Starling!"

"I can-"

"What? You can explain? I'm interested how you are going to explain to me divulging important top-secret information about an underground organization to _one innocent CHILD!"_

Jodie Starling winced at the exclamation. Well, when you looked at it from that perspective…

But no, she knew better than to ever underestimate the mind of one Conan Edogawa. Even if he was seven years old, even if he was just a child… He was anything but innocent, and anything but the child this man, her boss, held him for.

"Sir," the FBI agent said, the seriousness in her voice drawing the man out of his anger at the incompetence of his agents. "I know… I know it sounds unbelievable, and I know that what I'm about to say is even more ridiculous, but in my opinion that child has a better chance of bringing down the whole organization than any of us."

She could see the man's face starting to redden again, probably to yell at her for even thinking of such a thing, but, for the first time ever, she decided to defy him. She brought up a hand and effectively broke him off before he could start on his rant again. She could see he was shocked at the blatant disrespect of her superior, but she ignored it in favor of explaining herself.

"I've been around him for quite awhile, and believe me when I tell you that that kid has more guts than any of the agents you've ever trained combined. I've seen him shot, stabbed, seen the serious face he wears when looking at a dead body, not because he's seen Death but because he is looking for clues. Heck, I've seen him running into a bus that was about to explode just to rescue a girl paralyzed from fear, not to mention staying behind on the crime scene to give his report when he should have gone to the hospital to get the deep scratch wound on his hand treated!" She narrowed her eyes at her superior, bringing a hand down on his desk and visibly startling the man transfixed by her speech. "Sir, if there is _anyone_ out there capable of taking on this organization that's been roaming the Earth for far too long, then I am hundred percent sure – it would be him."

The man looked at her with narrowed eyes, his stare intense and piercing, as if trying to verify this absurd idea she had come up with. She held his gaze without falter, determined to let her boss see just how much she'd been _right_ in making the decision of divulging information.

Several moments passed and the man sighed, giving up the battle and dropping his head to rub at his temples. Through the old worrying lines visible on his face, she could easily see he was clearly stressed. Faintly she wondered just _how much_ trouble she'd brought onto him with this matter.

And yet, she couldn't bring herself to feel guilty. She'd done the right decision after all.

"And this child… did he really do all those things you speak of?"

The blonde smiled, glad her boss was giving in, if only slightly. She bent down to pick up the deposited box she'd brought to the office, already having suspected what the call would be for. She picked it up and placed it on the desk, almost grunting at the effort it took. It was _heavy_ box.

"This," She said with a smirk. "Is the boy's file. Everything he's accomplished, every case he's been involved in. I did my research well. The boy rarely ever comes up in the newspaper with anything other than his face-offs with Kaitou Kid and the adventures of his rag tag group named Detective Boys, but…" Her smirk widened. "You'll find I added the files of Sleeping Kogoro there too, which brings a whole new perspective to the situation."

The man raised an eyebrow. "Kaitou Kid? Detective Boys? And Sleeping Kogoro, the famous detective? What do they have to do with anything?"

The smirk turned to an enigmatic smile. "Everything is in the file. Just read it. And as for Mr. Mouri… I have reason to believe the child is actually behind it all, solving the cases and using the man as a puppet to relay the theory of the crime."

A second eyebrow joined the first. "That is a serious accusation. Do you have any evidence?"

"Not really, but once you read the file, you'll find yourself thinking along the same line pretty quickly."

For a moment silence reigned in the room, the two occupants simply regarding each other as the man tried to wrap his mind about the whole idea of a small boy accomplishing all his agent had told him.

"This boy… Conan Edogawa… Who is he really?"

The smile once more returned to its more smirk-like quality as arms crossed over a feminine chest. "That, I do not know. Conan Edogawa hasn't existed since a year back, each and every of his identification documents as fake as his glasses."

"Really?" She was pleased to note her superior had drawled the reply out, more like expecting it than being surprised by the information. He was warming to the idea of the boy being something more than just a boy.

_Good._

The man glanced back down at the thick folders and newspaper clippings in the heavy box, then back up at her with a serious expression.

"If this is indeed true, it has to stay under wraps."

"I know."

"Nobody must find out about the boy being a valuable source concerning the organization, not to mention a great asset to the FBI, from what I've heard circulating around. His whole involvement with anything remotely close to us _must_ stay secret. If he is as you described him… that boy will perhaps be our greatest break-through yet."

"Yes, sir." She couldn't help the excitement that carried in her reply.

"You know what this means, yes?"

She blinked. "You-you mean…"

"Since it seems that only you and I know about this-"

"Ah, there is one other, sir. James Black knows about this too, and Shuichi Akai did, before he…" she trailed off.

"Alright then. From now on, you or anybody knowing about the boy's involvement with the FBI, none of you are permitted to speak about it or share information. Edogawa Conan will from now on, in regards to the FBI and any other organization, be known under an agent name, and that agent name only. Understood?"

Jodie nodded, faintly surprised at how well this entire meeting had turned out. The dark thoughts had still been lurking there in a small part of her mind, even as she'd been trying to convince her superior, even as she'd been sure he would have to believe her. They'd been there the whole time, laughing at her and insisting she would be fired no matter what… But _this_ was better than anything she could hope for.

Conan Edogawa just became a top-secret agent of the FBI.

And he didn't even know it.

"Dismissed."

The woman saluted, halting her reflex to bow just in time (Japan had ingrained in her some habits that would take time to get rid off) and turned around to exit the office. Behind her, rustles of papers were heard as her boss put away all of his other work and began inspecting the contents of the box. She could only smile, imagining the expression he'd probably be wearing as he went file through file through long detailed file of the boy's relatively short life, dating only a year back.

Her hand halted just before turning the door knob, an idea suddenly forming in her mind.

"Sir?"

"Yes, Agent Starling?"

"Have you… thought of an agent name for the boy yet?"

"Hmm, no, not yet. Why, you have a suggestion?"

"…I do, in fact." She couldn't help the smirk that graced her face as she turned to look back over her shoulder. "Call him… Cool Kid."


	8. Pedophile

_Don't know where this came from, and I apologize if it offends anyone, but it popped up in my head and just wouldn't stay there. Hope you enjoy :)  
_

* * *

**Title:** Pedophile  
**Genre:** Humor  
**Pairings:** None  
**Rating:** K  
**Warnings:** None  
**Words: **484

* * *

"Hey, kid, want to have some ice cream?"

Conan stood stock still, eyes impossibly wide. It was not because of fear, per se, but because of… of this. It was just that his mind had blanked out, unable to process the situation he'd found himself in. This guy can't be serious…

"W-what?"

Ugh, yeah, great comeback. And yet, an impressive feat in his current position, he amended.

"Want to have some ice cream? Look, I got some here, in the back of my van." The man continued undisturbed, the fake kind smile plastered on his face.

Oh God, he _was_ serious.

Conan didn't know whether to laugh or completely freak out. Well, technically it made sense for these sort of people to seek him out, since he was a seven-year-old innocent kid and was strolling down a conveniently abandoned street and they had no reason at all to suspect him of being a seventeen-year-old shrunk by a pill with super powered shoes and a tracking device in his glasses and sleeping darts in his watch and a communicator in the innocent looking detective badge in his pocket and-

His mind blanked out again.

"Look, I even got a toy to go along with it, hmm? Come on, I'll show you the ice cream." And with the same fake smile on his face, he grabbed Conan's hand and started leading him to the back of the van. "I'll even give you a free ride to your home, deal?"

"H-hai…"

The whole way to the ordinary looking van, the boy desperately tried to pick up the pieces to which his brain had dissolved.

Only one though permeated his mind, however.

'_How do I explain __a pedophile to Megure-keibu?'_

The guy didn't know what hit him.

* * *

--**Omake**--

"Ah, Takagi-keiji! Sato-keiji!"

"Conan-kun? What are you doing here at the station, did Mouri-san bring you here?"

"No, it was just around the corner from where that man drove me!"

"A man? What man?"

"The man that asked me if I wanted to eat ice-cream in the back of his van! But there was no ice-cream and the man was getting really close to me and I got scared and so I hit him and he got knocked out! Then I saw we were near the station so I decided it'd be better to report him 'cause Oji-sans aren't supposed to do that sort of thing, right?"

"…"

"…"

"Takagi-keiji? Sato-keiji?"

"Uh… yes, right. We'll, umm… We'll go take the man in. Err… you said it was a van, Conan-kun?"

"Un! A grey one, just around that corner!"

"Oh, umm, okay, we're g-going…"

As the two officers walked away in a daze, Conan dropped his act and brought a hand over his face in exasperation. At least it wasn't Megure-keibu he had to explain this to. That gave him some time…

_God, when Ran finds out I'm dead meat__._


	9. Cool Kid 2

_Okay, so some people thought I should write something more about the drabble 'Cool Kid', so here it is. A comment from SnakeBlue on dA decided it for me n_n And even tho I n__ow know who the boss of the FBI is, I still won't mention his name. Why? Because it's fanfiction. And also, by no means is this a story in itself, but a set of drabbles in the same verse. Just so we're clear. ^^_

_Also, for those who read my story 'Raven, Tantei-kun?' - No update this weekend cuz of schoolwork, but because I feel guilty there will be a drabble every two days till the next one (next Saturday) Enjoy!_

* * *

**Title:** Cool Kid 2  
**Genre:** General/Humor  
**Pairings:** None  
**Rating:** K  
**Warnings:** None  
**Words: **1553

* * *

The man behind the desk, _The_ man, the leader of the whole Federal Bureau of Investigation, also commonly known as FBI, sighed in almost-relief.

He rubbed his temples tiredly, unsuccessfully trying to fend of the headache that had come somewhere along the first third of the content of the box he was currently studying. He'd been at it for most of the day, pulling all his other paperwork aside and fully dedicating himself to the problem at hand, determined to browse through the files and assuage his worry and utter skepticism at the bomb one of his agents had thrown at him just hours before, in the very office he was now residing in.

Even after the speech Agent Starling had given him, even after seeing the full confidence and trust she had placed in a _seven-year-old child_, the man was still left with doubts hanging over his head.

Really, a seven year old boy, a mere _kid_ having done all the things she'd told him about? Not likely.

At first he'd thought the woman was exaggerating (honestly, a boy having solved all the cases of the famous Kogoro Mouri?), but now, after going through the box of files for most of the day and _still_ having a third to go, he was fairly certain his agent had been _downplaying_ the boy's abilities.

His eyebrows had gone higher and higher the more and more he read, disappearing into his hairline after about an hour and staying there for the remainder of his work hours. His agent had been thorough, he had to admit, and she had (perhaps anticipating his rage and disbelief at the situation) gone and outdone herself.

Maneuvering a helicopter with a blind man's help, holding a gun with (to Agent Starling's belief, which contradicted the police file) perfect aim, jumping from building to time-bombed building to save three other kids, _driving a car_ from god-knows which floor _back at the first building_ with his friends in tow, co-piloting a _plane_ (and according to witnesses the main pilot was Phantom Thief Kid!), jumping off skyscrapers with a parachute _to chase said thief_, jumping out an exploding bus with a scared friend (he'd heard Agent Starling mentioning it, but he hadn't _really_ believed it), acquiring a fatal wound inside a cave trapped with murderers and _still_ managing to direct three other kids out of there, planning a vital operation of, at the same time, sparing lives and getting a CIA undercover agent back into an organization's ranks with nobody being the wiser, sacrifices included… And let's not forget all the almost daily murder, attempted murder and kidnapping cases the child got involved in, because there wasn't apparently a month's time before something or other happened around him.

This kid wasn't just agent material. He was agent material of the highest degree, and if the man hadn't read how many cases revolved around the safety of the boy's caretaker and almost adopted big sister, he would have demanded the boy be immediately contacted and offered a chance to enter the Academy at an early age.

Yet… No, he knew it wasn't possible. As he saw it, and he was sure Agent Starling saw it too if she had decided on keeping the boy a secret for so long, the boy had a mission to accomplish back home, a goal he set for himself and was determined to see it through till the very end.

And apparently it had something to do with the organization

He sighed in resignation, his hand methodically drawing all the browsed-through papers into a neat pile, and leaving the others still in the box. The bottom still couldn't be seen.

It was a big box.

'_Well, if the boy is somehow involved with the organization and working for their downfall, then who am I to stop him?'_

He faltered at the thought, going over it again and again. He… hadn't really meant that he would be letting a mere boy free reign to get himself involved and killed by the organization. No. No, that wasn't it. It was almost as if…

With a sudden epiphany, he could now understand what agents Starling, Black and Akai saw in the boy that he in the beginning couldn't. The boy… he was like a mystery, a powerful card hiding in a deck of meager ones, a puzzle that would probably never be properly solved, yet would lend them pieces for their own ones.

He would let the boy investigate further, with no interruption of hiding agents and guards that he would so love send just so he was sure the boy was safe. He would grant him this solo mission and give him the privacy he needed to complete it.

And if Agent Starling, one of the only ones in the know of the importance of the boy, suddenly popped up here and there in Tokyo, then it had nothing to do with him or contacting an extremely useful source on the organization that he felt was beyond due to fall down.

Now, if only that Edogawa kid (he would have to get used to calling him Agent Cool Kid, even he had the feeling it wouldn't be all that hard) could get in trouble less frequently… Even after a full day of inspecting the boy's files, he was still barely scraping the bottom of it.

He shook his head, breaking his inner musings and glancing down at the files neatly stacked on his desk. The rest would have to wait for tomorrow, he needed some sleep after a day full of eyebrow-raising information.

He picked his coat of the chair, grabbing the office key and making his way out of the room. Yes, tomorrow he would finish looking through the files, and then he would finally have an up-to-date knowledge of the boy's deeds. For now, he could almost imagine the softness of his favorite sofa back home. It had been a stressful day.

For some reason, he felt an ounce of dread as he pulled the door open…

And found a cabinet on wheels almost crushing into him.

"S-Sorry, sir, I hadn't seen you there!"

"Ah, it's alright." The man took a step back from the metal cabinet, gaining view of the sheepish employee behind it. He looked back at the cabinet, eyes roving over the many boxes and stacks of papers, as well as newspapers, placed on the shelves.

Somehow, the dread from before grew.

Clearing his throat, he turned back to the employee, curious about what the man was doing with so many files in the corridor that could only lead to his office.

The dread only grew.

"Excuse me, but may I ask what those are?"

The other blinked, breaking himself out of his abashed state and straightening his posture. "Ah, yes, Agent Starling asked me to bring them to you. It's fairly late and her shift ended, and I thought you'd gone home too, so I wasn't very careful about where I was stepping. I apologize, sir."

"I already said it was alright," he answered good-naturedly, trying to assure the man his job wasn't in danger (really, even if he had the highest position here, it didn't mean he would fire them for every little mistake they made). "But, did Agent Starling say what the files are for?"

"Yes, sir," the man answered, then seemed to hesitate a little. "Well, not really. She only said to tell you the files she gave earlier on 'cool kid' were a brief summarization and several months old, and that these," he gestured with a nod of his head. "were the rest of it. She said you would know what she was talking about."

…

Huh.

And now… now the leader of the FBI felt like bashing his head against the wall. He should have known. He really should have. Even if there had been so many of the files back in the box, he should've suspected something when half through it he only covered the first few months of the boy's appearance in public.

Instead, he settled for a quiet groan, which was a surprise in itself to the curious employee, and brought a tired hand to touch the edge of the cabinet.

"Did she," he halted momentarily, almost afraid to know. Nevertheless, he continued on. "Did she say anything else?"

"No, not really, sir," the other answered. His superior almost started to relax, but the other ruined it completely with the next sentence. "She only said the update on this month will come in a few days time."

And so the random employee of the FBI that Jodie had bribed into the task of driving the cabinet to the boss' office ("You won't regret it," she had said) witnessed not the man bashing his head against the wall, but bashing his head against the cabinet, which produced a much louder and metallic sounding _clang._ The thing even moved back on its wheels from the force of the impact.

It soon became known through the FBI (and CIA, just because the rumor was so widespread and the 'random' employee was the resident gossiper) that, for the first time in a long time, someone had pissed off their boss.

That someone was 'Cool Kid'.

And nobody knew who that was.


	10. Braces

_I really have no excuses for this one. One day I just thought of Haibara having braces... and completely cracked up XD_

* * *

**Title:** Braces  
**Genre:** Humor  
**Pairings:** None  
**Rating:** K  
**Warnings:** None  
**Words: **516

* * *

Ai gritted her teeth.

"Haibara-"

"No."

"But-"

"N-"

"Did you have them the first time around?"

Her glare could have burnt a hole in the blackboard ahead.

"_Yes_, I did." she ground out finally, as if the inquiry was something idiotic and wholly beneath her. "Now, ask me another question about it and you're going to find just how painful an injection can be the next time I'll be drawing your blood."

She refused to look in his direction as she sat in her school seat, her hands neatly clasped together on the desk to keep them from throttling him, but out of the corner of her eyes she saw him shrink back. Good, he relented then.

Only now he was looking the other way, his frame shaking peculiarly oddly. It was _almost_ like he was...

"If you're doing what I think you're doing, the next prototype I give you will by some unfortunate accident have laxative properties in it, Edogawa-kun." she growled.

The boy tried, he honestly did, but he couldn't conceal the few small twitches as he tried to reign himself. Finally, after several grueling minutes of Ai glaring at him, he managed to get himself under control again. He turned back around, straight-faced and once again ready to live through the day without further provoking the girl next to him.

Honestly, he didn't get why it was so funny, it simply was. Just the idea of Haibara, the cold scientific and seemingly _perfectionist_ Haibara having, having to…

He barely held in a snort. The 'would like to see you solve your own death' look the other was sending helped a bit. But only a bit.

And then the kids came.

"Ohayo, Ai-chan, Conan-kun!" They shouted.

"Ohayo-" Ai responded purely on reflex, before freezing mid-sentence with wide eyes. She snapped her mouth shut, but from the looks on the kids' faces she was already too late. Seems like her new…assets were discovered.

"Ai-chan! You-you have braces!"

And then Conan lost it completely, clutching his stomach and thumping his head against the desk as his body bent forward. Loud cackles escaped him, gasps and chokes and silent snickers, and then he was laughing _again_ for all he was worth, the situation simply too hilarious for him to think about self-preservation.

The children in the classroom eyed him warily, not knowing what to think of the bespectacled boy cracking up completely, with apparently no reason at all. Even Kobayashi-sensei faltered in the doorway, taking in the situation with confused, maybe even worried (did the boy finally snap?) eyes.

Ai didn't know _why_ he found it so funny that she had braces. She had expected the kids cracking a joke or two at her expense (and she'd been in no mood for that today), but Kudo-kun?

So she vowed to take revenge for that little stunt. And that dish would be served cold, in the form of the 'special' pill she had accidentally invented. She hadn't been kidding with her earlier threat.

_'Kudo-kun, the next transformation you'll be spending locked in the bathroom. That, I promise you.'_


	11. Poker Face

_Well, I'll say it was time I write at least one tragedy after all the crack drabbles I did. I'm normally more comedy oriented, but angst and tragedy sometimes find their way to me._

* * *

**Title:** Poker Face  
**Genre:** Angst/Tragedy  
**Pairings:** None  
**Rating:** T  
**Warnings:** Character death  
**Words: **1777

* * *

_No. __No, no, no, no, no-_

When they entered the classroom that morning, none of the students of 2-B Ekoda High expected to see the resident prankster and notorious magician sitting at his desk, scribbling on a piece of paper with a carefree smile and paying them absolutely no heed at all.

When asked, the teen just replied that Aoko hadn't been at home that day so he'd gone to school by himself. It wasn't his fault they were always late because of her, he'd say.

Yet either way, Kuroba Kaito never showed up at school before the warning bell, best friend in tow or not. It made them wonder what poor soul he had it in for that day.

As she pulled out a book from her schoolbag, Keiko kept glancing at the busy magician. She didn't know what to make out of it.

Where was Aoko when you needed her?

_-no, no, no, no, NO! Why? Why did it have to happen?_

During first period, Kuroba was still scribbling on the paper, his face never changing from its carefree smile, only a brow occasionally creasing as he concentrated on whatever he was doing.

Akako didn't know what that was, nor did she want to. It wasn't her business to pry among mortals' mundane entertainments, even if Kuroba was one of the more interesting ones.

Though she felt something niggling at her, telling her she better _does_ check.

She ignored it.

And when the sensei reprimanded Kuroba for not paying attention, she hadn't batted an eye. A poof of smoke, some green hair and the teacher will be dealt with.

And when, as the reprimand didn't work, sensei threatened to take whatever he was so busy with from him, she still waited for the prank.

And when Kuroba only sent the same wide smile at the man before completely disappearing into a puff of smoke, paper he was scribbling on included and school bag not, _then_ Akako's eyes narrowed.

_Why? …I just wanted… I didn't want…_

When Saguru found the thief sitting cross-legged at the edge of the roof during lunch period, he hadn't been surprised.

When he called out to him and received no answer, he felt a strange feeling bubbling within him.

And when he tried to approach him, only for his target to lean forward and disappear over the edge, he felt almost compelled to run and see if he really fell.

He didn't, of course. The school grounds were empty.

And when he found a pencil smudged with graphite lying by the edge innocently, he recognized the feeling for what it was.

Something wasn't right. And it _worried_ him.

He wondered if it had anything to do with the Kid heist last night.

_I just wanted… to do the right thing… Was it really too much to ask?_

Halfway through fourth period Aoko appeared in the doorway, looking out of breath and with her hair a real mess. She apologized to the teacher, saying she had a fever and went to visit the doctor that morning, but since it subsided soon after she decided to come to school after all.

She expected a comment from Kaito as she seated herself, something like her completely missing out on a school-free day with the excuse sheet the doctor had given her.

Any kind of comment.

She received none.

_Why? Why them?_

By the end of the period, the students were sitting still with batted breath. As soon as the bell rung, Aoko reached for the teen a desk in front of her, gripping his shoulder in a tight grip and preventing any escape via puff of smoke.

She wasn't fooled like the others.

"Kaito? What's wrong with you?"

_Was it really so wrong?_

The boy had stiffened momentarily, but she still felt it. Then he turned his head to smile at her, one hand going to cover whatever he'd been scribbling on during the whole period. Aoko only managed to catch a glimpse of black before focusing on the boy's face.

Somehow, she didn't like that smile.

"Kaito." She added with more force. "What did you do this time?"

_Was it his fault?_

The smile only widened, reaching almost from ear to ear, never showing any teeth. Eyes almost closed, he answered her.

"Nothing's wro-ong."

His voice cracked at the last word.

_Yes, yes it was._

At first it was only one. Only one Aoko could have taken as a trick of the light.

But then another followed, and another, until drops of salty water steadily flowed out the corners of those squinted eyes, down the round cheeks and over the crease of the wide smiling lips.

Three shadows loomed over her immediately, but she paid them no attention, her being alarmed and almost transfixed by the sight in front of her.

_Who's else __could it be? He was the only responsible. _

It was like watching a mirror slowly crack – first there was one, then two, then a _thousand_ more cracks appearing in the once smooth surface, until the shards started falling to the ground, shattering upon impact.

But, those shards were too precious to be abandoned. Eventually, and she could just see it, they would be picked up again, cutting into fingers and bloodying skin as they formed a new reflection, so smooth it could almost be mistaken for the real thing.

_And yet…_

Aoko wouldn't let him pick them up and hurt himself more.

There was something horribly wrong going on here.

_And ye__t… he had done the right thing, hadn't he? He'd __fought__, he'd been the __hero__… _

"Kaito, Kaito answer me!" She shook him, watching with more and more dread as the smile refused to diminish.

Even a quiet sob couldn't break it.

But it parted his lips.

_Then why did a hero have to fall __so hard__?_

"I…"

"Yes?" By now she was gripping his face with her hands, making him look and focus on only her, and not the ruckus that the whole class was currently making. You could hear the distraught voices of their classmates, sensei for the next period included. Aoko ignored them.

Kaito needed her.

_And __why__ couldn't a hero…_

"I… couldn't save them…"

The final shard fell.

And the smile shattered.

And he bent forward, hiding his face in the girl's shoulder, breaking down in sobs completely.

…_save them?_

His hands clutched at her uniform in despair. She held him tightly, not knowing what to do.

The paper on the desk caught her eyes.

_They're… They're…_

It was black with graphite, the white of it vanished with the rapid zig-zag's of a hard-pressured pencil. In the middle, a smiley face was the only thing that stayed the pristine fair color it had been before. That, and the words below.

"_Smiles and laughter are always go__od, but never forget your Poker Face."_

_Oh __God__, they're…_

"T-they're dead."

An explosion in the distance made their heads snap to the window. A cloud of smoke and fire was rising to the sky.

Aoko sucked in a breath, eyes wide.

Only Kaito's face stayed buried against the girl's frame.

A heavy sob wracked his body.

* * *

_Fweet__!_

The second body fell to the ground.

"What should we do with them?"

"Let them lie there, by morning all traces will be gone and nobody will be the wiser."

"And the boy? I heard she had a son."

"The boy's on a two day trip to Kyoto apparently. Won a ticket and will only be returning tomorrow. He'll be going straight to school."

The other grinned. "A homecoming surprise then, yeah?"

The gesture was returned. "Yes. With a bang."

They left, but before that the bulkier of the two stopped in the doorway, glancing back at the scene.

"I said I'd get you, didn't I? Took me eight years more, but now you're dead." He glanced at the woman lying next to the man, a puddle of blood spreading around her head. "You and _both_ of your accomplices."

He left.

The wires were set.

* * *

"…an explosion shook a part of the Ekoda district today in the afternoon hours. According to reports, the explosion originated from the kitchen area due to a gas leaking, then spread the flames to the rest of the house. The two occupants of the house died instantly, and several others were lightly wounded from the impact and flying shrapnel it sent across the street. Now going back to the recent robberies in Shinjuku district. Police believe…"

* * *

It had been a productive night, Kaito mused as he pulled on his shirt. He'd not only snatched the jewel from under the task force's nose, but he'd also delivered a grand show with the help of Jii-chan and a few stacks of wire and smoke bombs.

There also hadn't been any assassination attempts, for which he was glad. It seemed like Snake had retreated to just watching lately.

Now it was time for Kuroba Kaito to _return_ from his trip to Kyoto, where he'd been for the last few days and simply _couldn't_ have been in Tokyo for the heist. He could just barely wait to see Hakuba's expression at school.

As he descended the stairs, his eyes closing and almost imagining his mother standing in the kitchen, leaning over a stove and cooking breakfast with Jii sitting at the table drinking his tea, he gave a sigh of contentment. Life was nice.

And then he opened his eyes.

A brief flash of red, _oh God_ so much _red_, of lying bodies and of upturned furniture, the first thing he saw before even taking it in, and then… then _nothing_.

And Kaito, now with a wide smile and glassy eyes, turned on his heel and went back upstairs.

He wasn't hungry anymore.

He grabbed the schoolbag resting by the door, slung it over his shoulder and exited the house. He felt like going to school early today.

His loud "Itterashai!" went unanswered.

_When everything else fails, there's always Poker Face. _

_

* * *

_"Report."

"Hai. It's as you said, Snake. Konosuke Jii was absent from his home tonight , but was sighted at the front of the crowd at the heist. We lost track of him just before Kaitou Kid appeared."

"…Heh. Seems like the master had been posing as the apprentice all this time. And the woman?"

"She was seen talking to him that night and helping get rid of some evidence."

"Good. Just as I thought."

"When will we strike?"

"We act tonight. There's no point in delaying it. There's no one but them home, we have the perfect opportunity. Let's go."

"Hai."

'_Kaitou Kid, this __time it truly is your end.'_

_

* * *

_

_This was an idea that popped in my mind a half a year ago, when I got an F on a Math test. I went through the whole lesson devastated and on the verge of crying, yet on the outside I barely changed, even smiled when someone talked to me. It made me think of Kaito and his Poker Face... and I wanted to vent my depression out on something. _

_Only now managed to put it into words though. ^^ Hope no one is TOO confused with the disjointed timeline, was the only way for me to properly (angsty enough) portray it._

_*EDIT*: Ugh, FF ate all the break lines, had to rectify that.  
_


	12. Madness

_Arghh, this is what happens when you let me read a full summary of an author dedicating his life to writing angst and tragedies. Had to study European realism to get an A. Then I stumbled upon Maupassant. The rest is a self-explanatory attempt to escape studying. Took me 20 mins to write it all down. _

* * *

**Title:** Madness  
**Genre:** Angst/Tragedy  
**Pairings:** None  
**Rating:** T  
**Warnings:** Character death, me screwing with a character's sanity  
**Words: **480

* * *

Cold, so cold…

Why was it so cold?

Darkness, there was darkness all around her, so black and never-ending.

Why was it so dark?

She couldn't remember.

She felt numb.

She tried to bring a hand to her face, to touch it, to feel it touch…

She couldn't. Where was her hand?

Wound tightly around her knees, her mind supplied.

Yet she couldn't feel it.

She sobbed. Why was it so dark?

A glint of light off to the side caught her attention. What was that? Did it lead out of the darkness?

Another glint, as if illuminating a small object in movement. She sucked in a breath, now almost sure… Would she get out?

Suddenly she stiffened, listening to the loud silence surrounding her.

There!

It was there, she could hear; the sound of something dripping, she was sure. Where was it coming from?

The sound was joined by another. This one frightened her.

Breathing. Ragged breathing everywhere, magnified by the dead silence.

Why was it suddenly so loud?

The darkness was receding.

Suddenly she didn't feel so sure about it anymore. Did she want the darkness away?

The breathing was coming from beside her, she realized, from the floor. She was sitting on the floor?

She looked down…

…A flicker of the ever-growing light caught onto too large false glasses…

And screamed.

Red, her mind supplied, it was red!

And suddenly it was dark again.

And she liked it that way.

She sobbed, tightening her grip around her knees on the cold cold floor.

…

…Dark.

Why was it so dark?

* * *

The man gazed through the one way mirror glass.

"Any changes?"

"No, it's the same as the last few weeks." The voice sounded almost bored, so monotone was it.

He stood there for a few moments more, contemplating. Finally, he turned around, walking away from the glass.

"Then we have no use of her anymore."

Ice cold eyes narrowed at the other's receding back, turning to look at the occupant of the warded room.

It was true what had been once said: The organization left no loose ends.

Even if those ends knew nothing about them.

Silver Bullet had to go, she knew that.

It was Angel she was sorry to see go.

With a sharp _click_, Vermouth lifted her loaded gun.

It was also true what they said about madness, she thought as she entered the room and eyed the only occupant, broken and huddled in the corner as she was.

Mad is the one that had it all, and then lost it all.

She supposed Sherry had been happy, having a started a new life from scratch. New friends, new caretaker, new sister, new equal in mind… A new childhood.

Yet she couldn't bring herself to feel sorry for her.

She should have known better.

The door to the room shut with a final creak.

* * *

_*yawns* Maybe I really should go sleep for more than two hours, I'm seriously contemplating going to the library to get one of Maupassant's books. God only knows what stories will come out of THAT. But, nah, still have to study. I'll sleep on Friday night. Only a week and a half of school left, then I'll be able to really write again (which means HUMOR)~_


	13. Conan's Morning Coffee

_I posted a snapshot (motivational banner? Dunno what they're called) on dA under the same name and asked anyone if they wanted a short drabble out of it, so here it is. Not as short as I'd imagined, since all my stories somehow get long when I 'get into it', but what can I do. At least it's humor._

_And hey, I updated! *is shot* Yeah, sorry for the wait, had a writer's block. Hope the next drabble won't wait that long. Oh, and I have another oneshot as a stand-alone piece, be my guest to check it out. People say they cannot breathe from laughter because of it, so I guess it's good? ^^;_

_Anyway, read how Conan got his morning coffee. ^.^_

* * *

**Title:** Conan's Morning Coffee  
**Genre:** Humor  
**Pairings:** None  
**Rating:** K  
**Warnings:** Conan scaring Ran for the benefit of coffee  
**Words: **2150

* * *

It was a good assumption that Kudo Shinichi liked his coffee. In fact, it should better be said that without that wonderful deity sent by the gods, the poor youth wouldn't be able to function straight in the mornings.

And he also liked it black. Very much black. As in no sugar, no milk _black_.

Yet Mouri Ran didn't like coffee that much. She rather preferred tea. Definitely not what Shinichi drunk. It made her stomach queasy to even look at it.

But she let him drink it. Let the teen destroy his liver and scorch his taste buds and see if she cared.

…Well, okay, she did care. Every morning she argued with him over the drink, understanding why he had to do it (because she clearly remembered how grumpy he'd been the last time she tried to hide it), but simply just not understanding _why black_.

But she let him drink it, as previously stated. Because he was taller than her, and faster when needed to protect his morning cup of coffee.

Conan was not as tall. And although fast for his age, he was still a kid. A short kid with short legs, to be exact.

And the kitchen cupboard containing that previously mentioned 'wonderful deity of gods' was a chair and two of his body lengths too high for him.

At first the coffee wasn't positioned as high. It only got to be there after the fourth time Ran found him trying to prepare it in the kitchen. 'Try' being the key word, since the strong aroma of it succeeded in waking the girl up each time, driving her to the kitchen to snatch it from right in front of Conan's nose just as he was about to drink it.

And drink it black too, she had noted. She gave him such an earful she was sure he'd never try such an atrocious act ever again.

Yet the following morning, he'd been at it again. And the morning after that. And the morning after that morning, she decided enough was enough.

From then on, the can containing the coffee, the delicious deity that Shinichi worshipped with all his heart, had been out of his reach. Mocking him. Calling to him. That part of the cupboard didn't even have a door; it was more like a shelf than anything else, so it was on full display. Hence the mocking.

The morning when Conan discovered this fact, Ran found him standing barefoot in the kitchen, head tilted back and wide eyes staring at _that_ top shelf, unmoving and slack-jawed. He must've been standing there for a few hours at least, if the previous early morning tries at coffee were any indication.

Yet she felt no pity for him. Children weren't supposed to drink coffee, especially not black. It was simply preposterous.

As for Conan – he'd been devastated. He couldn't believe Ran did this to him. And even though he was devastated, he was not without a plan. He _had _to have his morning coffee back.

He tried to order one at the café below at first, under the guise of buying it for his 'Occhan'. On the first few tries it worked, until Ran found a disposable cup in the agency's trash bin long before the Kogoro's snores had changed to daily grumblings.

Another scowling followed. The staff at the café now knew not to give him any coffee.

Then Conan pulled Agasa into his plans, deciding to travel each morning to the man's house and have his cup before enduring a day of boring grade school. Yet with time the plan got old, as the route took longer to reach school, the kids started to wonder and Ran kept shooting the professor suspicious looks, making him visibly uncomfortable under her gaze. It shattered completely the day Ran offered to escort him part of the way to school.

Conan had no other 'safe' plans prepared. He was getting desperate.

But he didn't want to do any of the more daunting stunts. Not only would they be incredibly risky, he also didn't want to hurt Ran with them. She also already had a good deal on her plate with Shinichi's disappearance and rare calls.

And so he decided coffee was a small thing to risk if it would make her happy. However much he may have sulked about it.

The first day without it he was glad to see her smile at him as he for once woke up later than her. The second day they ate breakfast in silence, with Conan ever so much glancing at _the_ shelf. The third day his only responses were grunts and grumbles, so authentic that a client of Kogoro's had complimented him for his stunning similarity to his father. Luckily, he was too grumpy to properly acknowledge that horrifying comment.

Yet at the end of that week he'd had enough. He'd snapped at the kids, gotten Ayumi to cry, stopped Mitsuhiko and Genta from chasing him down by a mere _glare_, cursed at the teacher ("Like I need to listen! Who the hell _wouldn't_ know that two and two is four?"), scared off Sonoko by his 'dark aura' (her words, not his) and generally put everyone around him on edge.

And suddenly his desperate plans didn't seem so desperate anymore. He would do anything, anything for his coffee. And even if Ran had to suffer a little scare, it was all for her own good, because Conan didn't know what would happen if the situation continued its course. For all he knew, the next time he saw _that_ shelf he would most likely spit out his entire life story to her, change of height and identity included, just so she could give him that god sent container lying there.

So he devised a plan. A desperate plan.

'_I'm sorry Ran, but it must be done.'_

_

* * *

_

_(A day later, while Kogoro was on a two-day trip)_

"What? But, but…" Mouri Ran stuttered, holding the phone to her ear with trembling hands. "You can't… how did you-"

"It doesn't matter how I got the kid, miss!" A gruff voice answered her back, the tone just letting her imagine what sort of man could been behind it (large frame, imposing, scary face, oh God Conan must be beyond frightened by now!) "Heheh, but if you must know, I just offered him some… coffee, and suddenly he was ready to follow me to the end of the world!"

You see, that morning when Ran awoke, Conan wasn't in his bed. At first she thought nothing of it, assuming he'd just woken up earlier and had gone out with his friends. Yet there was no note left behind to tell her when he would be back, or any indication that he'd even been there.

No dishes were left to dry from breakfast. There was no displacement of the kitchen items. There wasn't even a stool positioned in front of _the_ shelf, like it was every morning when the boy decided staring at the coffee can would be a good passage of time.

She didn't worry though; she knew the boy could take care of himself. He'd call her sooner or later anyway.

She indeed got a call. Only it wasn't Conan that was on the other end.

"Oh no, what have I… p-please, don't hurt him, I'll do anything…" she pleaded, wishing she could have somehow protected the boy from this…

"Anything?"

"Yes, anything, just please let him-"

"Give him coffee."

"Yes, I'll give him, I'll give him c- what?" she exclaimed at the interruption, or more likely, at the request. Her trembling hands suddenly stilled, hoping she hadn't heard right.

"Yes, you heard me right, miss!" The gruff voice growled. "I know where the kid lives, so you better give him his morning coffee or you'll never see him again!"

"W-wha- But-" she stammered, but was yet again interrupted.

"Don't ask me anything, you hear me? I have my own reasons and you better well respect them! I'll say this only once." The voice got lower quality to it then, as if imparting some great wisdom upon her. "I will give the kid back to you, and he'll think he just spent a lovely afternoon with a masked stranger, but from you I expect to give him coffee in the mornings, every time he asks and just the way he wants it, got that?"

Ran nodded, for now simply wanting to follow any orders to see the young boy entrusted to her back. Then, realizing the man couldn't see it, she instead replied. "Yes- yes I will, just give him back-"

"You will?" the man asked again, as if making certain she would hold her word.

"Yes, I definitely will." This time her voice was more certain, almost like a promise. The man made a satisfied sound.

"Alright then, I'll send him on his way. He's unharmed, so no worries." he assured her before she could even open her mouth. "You'll find this arrangement best for everyone involved, you'll see. And just so you know, I'll be watching for from time to time to make certain you follow the orders, so no cops."

The girl blinked, staring ahead of her with disbelieving eyes. She wanted to say something, anything, but no words would come out of her mouth. She was still in too much shock.

That was it?

All she had to do was… agree to give Conan coffee?

…What the..?

"I'll be on my way then…" the voice drifted to her ear, and she could almost feel the stranger starting to move the speaker to the phone's cradle.

"W-wait!" she heard a crackle as the air rushed in the speaker, meaning the man was listening, but she paid it no mind as she hurried to say what she desperately wanted to know. "W-why would you- I mean- Why bother… for _coffee_?"

She just couldn't fathom it, and even if she had to inquire a supposed kidnapper about it, she had to know.

A chuckle was heard, and the deep gruff voice growled back at her. "You'd never understand it, miss. Let's just say the kid was driving me and everyone else up the wall with his attitude. I was just the only one that decided to do something about it. Now, good day."

And just like that, the stranger hung up.

She was left alone there in the agency, anxiously awaiting the return of her small charge.

Boy, would he get an earful about following masked strangers with a cup of coffee in hand…

* * *

Outside of the agency, still on the same street and just on the other side of the road, a small boy hung up the telephone with a satisfied smirk.

He adjusted his tie, being careful to hide the voice changing mechanism behind it, and prepared to re-enter his current home where no doubt a very worried and very irate teenage girl would be waiting for him.

He knew he was in for the scolding of his life. He didn't care though.

Why, you might ask?

Because as of tomorrow, there will be coffee waiting for him at the table. And for now, that was all his caffeine deprived mind cared about.

* * *

A few days later, as the waiter of the café below the agency greeted them on their way to school, Ran suddenly went rigid beside Conan. When the waiter confusedly inquired about what was wrong, his gruff and low voice rolling over them, Ran spun around and decked him in the jaw.

"It was you! You were the one that called me!"

And while the waiter tried to escape the wrath of the furious girl while at the same time wailing about his innocence in whatever matter she was on about, the small boy trailing after her moments ago was now nowhere in sight.

A block farther down, you could see said boy trying to appear nonchalant about the not at all manly screams still reaching his ears across the distance. He was even whistling to prove his point. Whistling off tune, but whistling nonetheless.

Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to use the waiter's voice to call Ran that night, even if it was a perfect match for an intimidating phone call.

Then again, the man _did_ yell at him more than once for trying to smuggle coffee out the café, so he supposed he kind of deserved it.

As another scream permeated the air, this one so high-pitched the place of injury just _couldn't_ be mistaken, Conan winced at the man's misery and his own selfishness. No one deserved that, he corrected himself.

He continued to whistle though, happily making his way to school with a skip to his step.

He'd had his morning coffee after all.

Another scream was heard.

All was perfect in the world.


	14. Game Pause

_Hey, long time no see? I know, my updates got rare, but I'm really trying ^^; Am sick right now, need to go drink tea..._

_So, the story? No idea really, the plot-bunny just popped in my head one day, and since I couldn't bring myself to write anything else, I decided that I'd at least write _something, ANYTHING_ to convince myself I can still do it and am not rusting too much. Somehow I think my writing style changed but who cares.__ Anyway, it's a 8th movie AU, I seem to like those... Maybe cuz that's my favorite movie and I watched it so many times I start to wonder about things? (tho I think 14th will trump it) XD I have some more ideas, we'll see if I write them down. For now, hope you enjoy!_

_Summary: 8th movie AU. After Kid left him on the roof of the train, Conan went pretty far off before it stopped. Still, he was glad it was just Ekoda, who knows where else he might have ended up?_

* * *

**Title:** Game Pause  
**Genre:** General  
**Pairings:** None  
**Rating:** K  
**Warnings:** None  
**Words: **2535

* * *

_'Arriving, Ekoda Station. Arriving, Ekoda Station.__ Please stay outside the red line and wait…'_

The dull feminine voice of the speaker bleared across the station, almost lost among the sounds of late night chatter and train doors sliding open. The masses of people, evidently smaller than during the usual rush hour, moved back and fro to either settle in or depart for their homes. Most of the ones leaving were already quickening their steps, having seen droplets of water on the train windows during the ride so they knew they'd have to hurry if they wanted to avoid the upcoming rain.

Preoccupied with their own lives as they were, nobody noticed a small person leaving the train by most unusual means not seen very often. The boy in question grunted softly as his legs took the impact of his jump from the train roof. He was out of there before anyone could even turn to inquire about the sound.

Weaving through the masses and avoiding long legs of passengers Conan deftly maneuvered his way across the station, looking for some sort of indicator of where the main entrance was. He found it after a few minutes of blind exploring and avoiding the few potential officers who wouldn't hesitate to approach a little kid and ask him what he was doing out here alone so late in the night. He was out of the station and on the almost deserted street in front of it in a matter of moments.

As soon as he stepped out of the chaos of loud chatter and careless limbs, he heaved a great sigh. He leaned against a nearby wall and gripped his chest for good measure, trying to calm down his still racing heart.

So much had happened tonight. As far as he knew, it had been barely ten minutes since he'd landed on the roof of that train, the para-glider flying away in the wind and his own body barely standing straight as he'd faced the seemingly cornered moonlight thief. Now that he thought about it, it had been a simple rookie mistake to think Kid would have ever been cornered, or left without a good back up plan, but…

He angrily smacked his palm against the wall.

Damn! He'd been so _close_ to getting him! He could still clearly see that familiar smirk plastered all over the shadowed face, even as he'd been running at full speed against the wind, attempting to and in the end failing to catch him before he vanished again. He had almost _felt_ the fabric of his pants in his grasp, but no, he knew the thief was just too calculating to let him get that near without a purpose.

Even if his stunt with the para-glider that night had been unexpected, the thief had still held one too many tricks saved just in case. For all he knew, Kid had planned for something like that in advance, however improbable it may have been.

And then, after all the excitement, he'd been left to hold onto the roof of the train that was speeding off to God knows where.

'_Ekoda,' _Conan reminded himself with a relieved sigh. _'I'm in Ekoda.'_

Well, at least it hadn't been a long distance train like the one for Osaka. That would have been a right problem.

He was broken out of his thoughts as he felt something small and wet splash on his head. He looked up into the sky, scrunching his nose at the dense clouds and obvious rain that was about to fall. The air in itself was humid and warm, the aftermath of a hot summer day, and he tiredly brought a hand up to wipe some of the sweat of his forehead. His breathing was still faster than normal, but at least his heart had stopped trying to explode from his chest.

He pushed off the wall he was standing against and slowly started his trek down the street, hoping the act would help him calm down quicker. Another drop on the crown of his head had him searching his pocket for his cell-phone. He brought it out with practiced ease and pressed the speed-dial.

"Moshi moshi?"

"It's me, hakase." Conan replied.

"Ah, Shinichi-kun! Where are you? Ran-kun's been worried, she couldn't find you anywhere." There was shuffling on the other end, as if the professor was bringing a hand up so no one could overhear what he was saying. "After the show ended a guard run into the room and shouted about seeing Kid running for the elevator. It was hard to control the masses after that and somehow we lost sight of you. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm alright. I went after Kid to the roof and followed him on the para-glider-"

"Oh, you used it then!" The man sounded excited. "Did it work alright? I didn't know if the measurements were good enough for your size, but I tried my best. Did you catch up to 1412 then?"

The boy chuckled. "I did, but he escaped me once I had to get rid of it. Listen Hakase, I need a favour again. Can you cover for me with Ran and pick me up?"

"Of course, I'll tell her you got lost in the crowd and were waiting by my car the whole time. Where should I pick you up?"

Here Conan hesitated. "Well, it's a bit far off, but… the Ekoda train station?"

There was a short pause on the other end. "…You certainly managed to get far off, Shinichi-kun." A sigh was heard. "I'll pick you up, I just need to drop off the children before that. However, I don't know where the station is exactly, but I know a park that should be somewhere around. I'll meet you there in half an hour."

"Right, I'll ask around. See you." He hung up.

He continued on his trek down the street, searching for any potential passer-by he could ask for directions. He grimaced as a few more drops fell on his head in short frequency. Not wanting to catch a cold in the weather, he pulled off his blue jacket and held it over his head, enjoying the fresh air that met his sweaty body. On second thought, he also removed his bowtie and glasses to avoid the rain damaging them, and loosened the first few buttons of his shirt just so he wouldn't feel so hot anymore.

Unfortunately for him, the upcoming rain had scattered what few passer-by the street had, and now the boy was left as one of the rare persons frequenting it. To make matters worse, his stomach was already starting to complain, the excitement and price of adrenaline catching up to him. Briefly he recalled there being a small snack pause during the show that night, but he'd been too tense with Kid's presence as 'Kudo Shinichi' to even think about letting his guard down. He now regretted not taking at least a bite when he'd had the chance to.

By now the street was almost empty save for a few suspicious looking characters and a preoccupied couple or two, and Conan was starting to think he would have to walk blindly and hope he took the right turn. He'd long stopped walking and just stood on the sidewalk facing the road, holding his jacket over his head so his trademark hairstyle was out of sight, the perfect picture of 'lost' summing him up.

"Hey kid, are you lost?"

He startled at the voice, whirling around to face the person that had somehow managed to walk up to him without his notice. The other raised an eyebrow at his reaction, but didn't stop what he was doing. The boy was momentarily distracted from the situation by the colorful objects the other was juggling almost nonchalantly in his hands.

"Well? Shouldn't kids like you already be at home at this time?"

Conan was glad the already wet jacket shadowed his own face, or he just might have become the other's next source of entertainment (the juggling didn't seem to do the trick if the bored tone was any indication) as a small angry blush spread across it. Instead of replying, he took a moment to dismiss the juggling objects and focus on the man himself.

He also had a jacket over his head to protect him from the rain, but from what Conan could see he was in his late teens, obviously still a student. His face was shadowed by the article of clothing, but it wasn't as if Conan was particularly interested in his looks. His hands were of course busy handling the various unknown objects between them, but he had a white dress shirt and dark pants. Judging the teen to be trusting enough to inquire him in the right direction, the boy brought forth his childish voice, spoken quietly so its usual shrill quality wouldn't carry through.

"I'm supposed to be picked up at a park around here, but I took a wrong turn and couldn't find it anymore. Do you know where it is?"

The other blinked at him, before realization dawned on his face. "Ah, you must be new around here then. The park's just around that corner," he said as he caught the juggling objects in one hand and pointed the direction in another. "You should be able to see it as soon as you turn right on the next intersection. Got that?"

"Yeah, thanks." Conan replied. Now that the objects weren't in constant movement, the boy could see they were candies of all sorts. He must've been staring a moment too long because he heard a chuckle emanate from the other. He looked back up at the shadowed face with an embarrassed flush, once again glad it couldn't be seen under his jacket.

The other took a golf ball-sized lollipop from the pile by the wrapper and offered it to him. "You can have it, alright?"

He took the offered treat with a mumbled 'thank you' and 'goodbye', and turned around to leave for the direction pointed out to him. He didn't take two steps before he heard the teen behind him shout.

"Hey!" The boy turned around in confusion. The other boy had already begun to juggle the objects in his hands again. "Want me to go there with you? Little boys like you shouldn't be out by themselves!"

Conan scoffed, his childish façade fading as he turned back around and restarted his walk. This time his voice was much deeper, more sarcastic. "No, I'm sure I'll manage. My uncle should be already waiting for me anyway."

He thought he'd heard the sound of something hitting the ground with a dull _clank_ multiple times, but he didn't pay any attention to it. He'd have to hurry to the park, he was sure he had spent more than a half an hour's time wandering around and searching for someone to give him directions. The professor should already be there waiting for him.

Absently he unwrapped the lollipop the mirthful teen back there had given him, his mind going over the events of the night and randomly taking some of them for small analyses. One of them was the memory of those hands juggling various candy, and suddenly the child wondered where he had acquired them all. That level of skill and dexterity had also surely required a long time to perfect… Curiously, the boy looked at the wrapper of the lollipop the other had given him…

And froze.

The wrapper itself was an inconspicuous, pale blue color, but what drew the boy's attention to it was the picture of a beautiful ring, its front holding a violet gem with three criss-crossing lines on them. The Jewel of Destiny.

Whirling around, the boy searched for the slim figure of the teen he'd met before, but found no retreating back on the street. Then he recalled the sounds of clattering objects he'd heard before and automatically pieced it all together. The other had probably recognized his voice. He'd be long gone by now for sure, he couldn't hope to catch up to him anymore.

But…

He looked down at the wrapper in his hands, his brows furrowed. These kinds of wrappers could only be found on lollipops offered at the beginning of the show back at the theater Conan and the others had been invited to, back at the supposed place of the… Kid heist. And, even though the show in itself was over, Conan doubted anyone would have managed to get from there to Ekoda in the short span of time they'd had. However, if they had left _earlier_…

'_But no, that's also out of the question,_' the boy amended himself. _'It _was_ him.' _He almost hit himself for being so distracted back there, the juggling the teen was doing having take him no notice of the clothes the other was wearing. Now though, he remembered perfectly. They'd been the clothes 'Shinichi' had worn back at the theater.

And yet…

The wrapper in his hands crinkled as he delicately lifted it up to his face, now being careful to hold only the very edges of it. Again, a memory of those bare hands juggling the candies came to his mind, and suddenly he knew without a doubt that this piece of evidence could very well bring the shadowed face of the Kid finally into the light. All he needed was some powder and a program to identify fingerprints and…

And what? Game over? It certainly would be, as the thief should have been more careful, but… He looked around, taking in the almost deserted street and the nearby houses and the far away chatter of some old couple discussing their TV program… This wasn't in Kid's game plan anymore. This wasn't Kid's _territory_ anymore, it was… his life. And somehow, in Conan's mind, that wasn't fair anymore.

On the other side of the street, hidden behind the concrete wall separating someone's garden from the street, a magician observed as the small child finally seemed to come to a decision. With batted breath and heart pounding loudly in his chest, he watched as the boy slowly resumed his walk back down the street, his retreating form soon vanishing just a round the corner. The only thing left was a small object fallen to the floor, which upon closer inspection a few moments later turned out to be a wrinkled lollipop wrapper.

Somehow, that felt like the Resume to a Game Pause of a game he (_they_) had been playing, and he found a large breath escaping him with something akin to relief. He couldn't help the quite chuckle that escaped him after that.

'_Ekoda, huh?'_ the boy wondered as a large park came into view, a familiar small beige car parked in front of it. He carefully tucked the information away in the far recesses of his mind, never to be recalled again unless the one having slipped it decided to divulge it again, this time the right way and within the playing field of their Detective and Thief chase.

For now, the Game was still on.


	15. Kicking the Bucket

_I honestly don't know whether to consider this a parody or not. It's humor alright, I just can't see the difference between those two categories =P_

_Weird name, I know xD Couldn't think of anything better, and since this story DID get randomly written only cuz a friend of mine didn't get the phrase and wanted to know its meaning, I decided it should be honored that way.__  
_

* * *

**Title:** Kicking the Bucket  
**Genre:** Humor/Parody(?)  
**Pairings:** None  
**Rating:** K+  
**Warnings:** Crack!Deaths  
**Words: **1090

* * *

"Kaa-saaaaan, it happened again!"

Little six year old Shinichi glared moodily in front of himself, at the spot the cashier of the candy store they'd been in (for his mother, not himself) had stood not a moment before. Around him, he could already hear the familiar sounds of screams and uproar, but frankly he could care less. He was hungry, and his mother had promised him lemon pie for the day. _That_ had been three hours ago.

First they had gone to an expensive restaurant where his mom had surely spent a fortune on the meal, probably because she thought dad would hurry up with his book publishing in America when he saw the bill. They were just about finished and ready to have desert served when one of the guests started choking out loud (and Shinichi had to say the disgusting sounds diminished his appetite marginally) and dropped dead a few feet away from them. They had to wait a half an hour for the police to arrive and inspect the scene, only for his mother to finally get involved and give them a deciding clue.

After that they went to a nice outside café situated near a park; they were just about to order the pies when a scream emanated from across the grassy surface, startling everyone sans Shinichi. Apparently someone found a man's body in the bushes a way away. This time his mother just called dad and relayed the details of the case as she led her grumpy and hungry child away. The poor boy had barely eaten anything at the restaurant because he wanted as much pie as possible.

Then his mother had tried to return home and order via cell-phone, but apparently all of the stores she called had either a problem with thievery, homicide, suicide or some poor excuse or other.

At last they'd stopped at a candy store on the way home, with his mother hastily ordering a bag of candies for her and three adult portions of lemon pie for him. 'For the next few days', she had explained when asked.

And now, when he'd been only a money exchange away from getting what he decided to come out of his house for... the man decided it would be nice to ALSO kick the bucket right at his feet.

To say the least, Shinichi was not happy at the moment _at all_.

"Oh Shin-chan, its okay" His mother hugged him and patted his head with watery eyes. "I'm so sorry you have to see something like this happen. Don't worry, I'm sure they'll get the one who did it in no time!" She reassured him, one hand already reaching for her cell-phone as she watched the proceedings. The police had arrived relatively fast, which could probably be attributed to the fact that they'd had murders happening right at their feet that day.

Or… someone else's' feet, but that's beside the point.

Shinichi shook her hand off with no small amount of irritation, turning around and pouting at her. His shrill childish voice carried across the store, but all he cared about now was going back home so the people around him would finally stop with the theatrics. "But Kaaaaa-san, this is the third time it happened today! I have enough of stupid people dropping to the floor, I want my pie!"

And now they had the whole store looking at them with incredulous expression. Yukiko tried her best to explain the err… 'nature' of Shinichi's statement, which involved a lot of wide hand movements and too fast incomprehensible speech to the moody six-year old. Feeling beyond ready to go home, the boy went to the counter, took the bag with their purchases from the top (it was already paid for, they could keep the exchange), pulled on the assistant's skirt and relayed in her ear how maybe the cashier had crashed to the ground maybe just because the girl he'd been with before had slipped some sort of pill in his glass, grabbed his mother's hand, and dragged her out of there without another glance back.

All the way back home (during which there were thankfully no other detours), Yukiko wondered when Yuusaku will finally get back. Her husband really needed to give their son the talk about what exactly happens when people 'die'. Childish innocence her son may have, but this was stretching it by far.

Hmm… And if he was already at it, maybe Yuusaku could get the 'birds and bees' over with too...

* * *

_A few days after Yuusaku got back…_

"What do you mean you didn't _exactly_ give him the Talk?" Yukiko demanded.

Her husband ceased hiding behind the large newspapers he'd been reading before this conversation. Sighing, he lowered them enough to see the skeptic expression on his wife's face. "'Kiko, do you really take me for a person able to deliver such a conversation to _anyone_?"

The woman sitting across of him frowned, thinking about such a possibility happening. Yuusaku, Shin-chan, heaven and hell, birds and bees, death and babies…

"…No, I suppose not. But, Yuu-chan, if you didn't talk to him about the seriousness of death, then _what_ did you _do_?"

There was a hidden threat in that question, Yuusaku knew, for even he could imagine his wife had had enough of her son acting like people dropping dead was a completely acceptable everyday occurrence.

Well, not _everyday_… more like every other day or so, but you get the drift.

Instead of answering her question, the man just sank a bit deeper into his sofa, humming thoughtfully as the newspapers came up to cover his face again. Yukiko wasn't impressed.

"Yuu-chan~," she sang, and the man flinched. "_What did you do?"_

Up on the second floor of the spacious Kudo mansion, a small boy sat comfortably on his bed, his whole attention directed at the opened book in his hands. Pages flew by as if swept by the wind and the small assembly of books near his bed, bound together and neatly labeled _'Complete Works of Arthur Conan Doyle'_, seemed to diminish in size by every passing hour.

With that sort of education placed upon by his parents, it was really no wonder the boy had learned to be so obsessed with solving every case he stumbled upon. Not even Yukiko could persuade him to let it rest for a moment and participate in a movie audition or two with that little chubby face of his.

She never forgave Yuusaku for that.

* * *

_Don't know if the meaning got through the story or not, but the whole point of it was that little six-year-old Shinichi doesn't know the seriousness of WHAT exactly happens when people die. For all we know he probably thought they were dropping to the ground JUST so they could annoy the heck out of him xD_

_Whoot, I'm not dead, I write! Hope you liked! And comment please, reviews make the world go round~!  
_


	16. Found and Lost

_I'm starting to develop the unhealthy habit of writing stories in comments. This is inspired by a friend's pic on dA (http:/ . com/art/Kidnapped-181723938), where Conan was kidnapped. Simple matter really. Except I felt the need to give something in return (damn my newfound obsession with FMA and Equivalent Exchange!) and suddenly I had a great idea. Not so great for Conan tho. Enjoy!_

_(Less than 1000 words. It indeed IS a drabble! xD)_

_Summary: Conan got kidnapped. Classic plot, unexpected twist._

* * *

**Title:** Found and Lost  
**Genre:** Angst  
**Pairings:** None  
**Rating:** T  
**Warnings: **serious character injury  
**Words: **924

* * *

He heard the sounds of scuffle outside the door shortly after his kidnappers had gone all silent. Even though he'd been there for several days, barely fed or given water (or a chance to relieve himself the normal way), his dazed mind could still comprehend this to be out of norm, off, strange.

His body instinctively tried to curl in on itself, stopping halfway due to the numerous pangs of agony coming from his empty stomach and bound limbs, as well as his face. His wrists and ankles had probably developed nice red marks by now, maybe even cutting through the skin. His face still burned with the injuries he'd gotten shortly upon his arrival in this dingy old rundown warehouse. He didn't actually think his kidnappers would be smart enough to figure out his glasses could be tracked; they probably delivered the punch and shattered them just for the fun of it. A searing twinge of pain shot though him as he blinked (every time he blinked) but he paid it no mind, gotten used to ignoring it by now. A few tears still escaped him, much to his frustration.

His breath hitched as he heard muffled yells from the other room, more scuffle, and more shouting. The voices sounded vaguely familiar, but in his sorry state he could barely place them. He almost arched his back in half from fright when he heard pounding on the door, followed by frantic shouts.

"Ku-Conan! Are ya in there?"

He didn't know how to react, not even registering the contents of the yell. All he knew was that somebody was trying to get in, and if it was one of the kidnappers, the one more prone to being drunk, then he was screwed. Part of him wanted to say something, to respond somehow, but the words got stuck in his throat, too dry and parched to produce any sounds without pain. He started coughing not a moment later, cursing his luck.

The pounding at the door abruptly stopped and there was more yelling, until finally it seemed as if they got the key. He heard it turning in the keyhole, heard the door slamming open, and even though his coughing fit still wasn't over yet, he lifted his head defiantly, glaring at the place from which he was sure light spilled in.

He must have been a sight to behold, his teeth gritted, hair mussed and caked with dirt and other things he could care less about in his position. He was sure the shards of his broken glasses, still attached to his face out of fun, were glinting menacingly in the light, but that would only deter his kidnappers so much before they got over the sight, and started making fun of him.

Only, instead of cackling and talk of a ransom the Great detective Mouri Kogoro would surely give for him, Conan was surprised by the arms that suddenly encased him in a gentle if firm hug. He gasped, flinching from the contact, but a strangled male voice hindered him as the embrace only tightened.

"Hold still, Kudo, we're here, we got ya now. Don't worry, ev'rything's under control, we got the kidnapp'rs arrested. They'll be sitting fer some time, I'll make sure of tha'."

"H-h-hatt..?" The boy rasped out.

"Who else?" he felt the arms loosen from around him, lying him back on the ground carefully as the other started inspecting him. "Damn, Kudo, sure did a number on ya. Prob'ly didn't even feed ya, did they? Bastards..."

"H-hattori, I-I...-"

"'s alright, got everything covered, ya don't have to worry 'bout a thing other than getting better now."

The boy shook his head, ignoring the small twinges of pain. "No, t-that's... not i-it... lis-sten I-"

"Hattori-san, did you find him?" a distinct male voice called from the other room. Conan vaguely recognized it as Takagi's.

"Yeah, got him! He'll need an ambulance though, get the medics here!"

"Hai!"

"Hatto-ri-"

"Shh, 's okay. See over there, the bastards're already being taken away. Tch, would've lov'd ta show them-"

"No, Hatto- I don... c-can't..." his breath hitched, and a sob finally escaped. It hurt his throat, and he imagined the dehydration didn't help either. He felt something warm flow down his face, stinging the cuts and making him hiss, but that only caused another sob to spring forth. He continued watching the place where the door was, his eyes burning.

"Kudo, what-" He felt hands lift his face and heard a sharp intake of breath at the sight of the broken glasses. Gingerly fingers wrapped around the bridge, slowly taking them off. His tears wouldn't stop in the ensuing silence, even as the siren of the ambulance shrieked closer and closer to their location.

Before, he thought they did it on purpose. He was too paranoid to close them entirely for a longer period of time. He... he thought the dark was deliberate, to scare him, to... No...

He screwed his eyes shut tightly, already knowing the agony the action would bring him. He felt a sharp end somewhere on both of his eyelids, cutting and preventing him from closing them entirely, and that fact only ascertained his revelation, bringing more quiet sobs forth. The tears wouldn't stop; 'Defense mechanism,' his mind supplied.

"H-hattori... it's dark. E-everything's dark..."

He felt a strong hand gripping his arm, the other still holding his face, his pale (too pale) blue eyes looking up aimlessly, blinking open to the world they'll never see again.

"I... I can't see..."

* * *

Y_eah, please don't kill me! ^^;_

_Because my friend also had the same reaction, she had me develop an alternative ending. Sooo, for those faint of heart... let's just say the shards weren't in his eyes but in his eyelids, and the blindness was due to trauma. It's possible to get blind that way, when the brain refuses to make the sense function. So with a little therapy and healing, he's back on track like new. Ain't that great?_

_-_- ...Right._

_Also, for those sharp-eyed ones, you'll notice that comment to the pic was a week ago. I didn't post it cuz I devoted all my time to finishing a request, so sorry for the late update ^^;_


	17. The Morgue

_Eh... Long time no see guys? *looks at dismal mass* Sorry for the long wait, really sorry. The exams are slowly coming to an end, so I can breathe easier now. I'm planning on catching up some to DC over the summer, since I've got out of date with it. Dunno how frequent my updates will be, and 'Raven' is currently on hold, and I have to write a summer project fic, so... yeah. Thanks for your understanding, if you have it ^^; And thanks for all the reviews I got in my absence, you guys ROCK!  
_

_Just a reminder: I'm not continuing or expanding on any of the oneshots/drabbles I have here, I made that mistake with Raven and am still waiting for inspiration to strike me again. But anyone else can do so if they want, just ask me for permission first ^^_

_Onto the story! It's humor, so you'll prolly enjoy it. Beware of my idea of humor! xD_

_Summary: Let's change just one bit, okay? Nothing serious, but let's liven up the beginning, hm? Here goes: Shinichi woke up in the morgue._

* * *

**Title:** The Morgue  
**Genre:** Humor  
**Pairings:** None  
**Rating:** K  
**Warnings: **me and my crazy ideas  
**Words: **2219

* * *

Shiho Miyano scratched at the billboard in her hand, occasionally glancing up at the dead lab rats in the small cages lining the wall. She also glanced at the heart monitors connected to each and every one of them, taking in the fine flat line. The number of the machines could be considered overrated, but then again, the financial support the organization gave this branch was so plentiful she just couldn't have resisted buying them all.

Damn her shopping obsession.

"Dead, dead, dead. Dead. Oh look- no, it's dead too." She sighed, glaring at the small creatures_._ They'd been dead for the last few hours, so they remained unaffected by it._ 'Can't just one surprise me with… I don't know, a growth spurt or something?' _

Yeah right, as if. But no, this was the poison department and everything living here given a sample had to die. She glared at the rats again. She wished she'd gotten faster to the application board for 'Unusual and Definitely Not Normal Research Project', but NO, that Vermouth had to set her up again and take the last place. For all the scientist knew, the older woman could already have some sort of eternal-youth pill or shiny-hair-like-Gin's serum in her system, while she was left with dead rodents.

Hah, like that would happen. She hoped the bitch died.

The heart monitor of the rat she was glaring at beeped suddenly. She growled and hit the machine with her billboard.

"Damn you! Why do you ALWAYS do that! Damn malfunctioning machines!"

Then steam started rising from the small dead rat. Shiho turned around, glaring at the nearest nameless lab coat and freezing him in place. "You! Dispose of these, they're starting to get grilled again!" She stomped away, muttering about stupid machines and buying a new batch.

The guy left behind sighed depressingly and pressed a button that opened the floor in each cage to let the bodies fall in a disposal hole leading to who knows where. He ignored the sounds of newborn rats that echoed out of it, instead closing the hole with a grimace. They had had a rat infestation problem ever since this project started, and no extinguisher ever managed to get the job done.

The organization wasn't happy about that, as you could imagine, and the number of extinguishing businesses in town abruptly diminished. And still it remained a mystery where they came from.

Oh well, not like it was their problem, _their_ rats were definitely dead at the end of the day.

He eyed the soon-to-be disposed heart monitors with pity. This was the third batch already.

* * *

Shinichi woke up in the morgue.

Well, at first he didn't know it was the morgue, but it became pretty clear when the bright lights stopped burning his eyes. After all, he was lying on some kind of a stretcher, the stretcher was halfway placed in one of a many giant drawers that would definitely be large enough to contain a body, and there were some razor sharp scalpels next to this particular stretcher that he would have definitely done without noticing.

Reflexively, he gripped around his middle, relieved to find there were no stitches or opened parts felt. He relaxed momentarily, then tensed in alarm again.

It was one thing to wake up in the morgue, but another entirely to wake up in the morgue with only a thin sheet covering your naked body. The former was disturbing, the later was just wrong. He had to get out of here.

Ignoring the fact that he was prancing around naked in a morgue, he went in search of his clothes. Luckily, he found them in a plastic bag on a nearby desk. He didn't have time to wonder about that, just put them on in a hurry. Or, he tried to put them on, but they seemed some ten sizes too big for him.

'_Okay, something is REALLY wrong here,'_ the boy thought. It also didn't escape his notice that the stretcher and desk were really high and that maybe he was the one ten sizes too small. But there was no time to take in this unimportant information when a voice shouted from just around the corner.

"Well yes, but you didn't tell me that the body was STILL burning when you put it in there! What- listen to me, just because I'm the night shift doesn't mean you can-"

Uh oh, the guy was coming his way! Shinichi scrambled for the conveniently placed back exit in his overgrown clothes, cursing as he stumbled. He could make it out just in time…

There was a mirror on the way. He didn't make it out in time.

"YES, I couldn't even see the face- No, I'm not a moron, you idiotic- what! Well then you too! Hey, don't hang up- DAMMIT!"

And the man rounded the corner, cursing under his breath and stopping abruptly at the sight of a seven-year-old kid who seemed to have tripped over the overgrown clothes he was wearing, which also _definitely_ weren't his own. The boy turned his wide eyes away from the mirror and gaped at him.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" he shouted in alarm.

The boy gulped, his look shooting to the wall with the drawers and bodies. The man followed his gaze, taking a moment to realize the stretcher with the burning body was empty. He turned back around, ready to grill the boy for answers, but abruptly became aware that he was the only one there.

Well, the only one alive at least.

Loud curses followed the boy all the way out of the building.

* * *

"And there was a seven-year-old there when you came back?"

"YES, I told you that already!"

"And the body was gone too, without any indication as to how?"

"Yes, yes, now will you do something or what?"

"What does it look like?"

"What?"

"The body, what does it look like? It will help us in the search."

The man blinked. "What, there are more dead bodies lying around?"

(A/N: Duh, of course they know Kudo mansion is nearby!)

"Just answer the question, sir."

"Ah… Well, I didn't see it, I left before I got a look, and I didn't categorize it."

"Why?"

"Well, it was burning-"

"Burning."

"Yes, burning, steam and all, so I couldn't see the face."

The policemen shared a look.

"Do you know why it was burning?"

"No, I don't know, so I called the men that brought it here for an explanation-"

The policemen shared another look, this one more meaningful.

"Alright sir, maybe it's best we discuss it at the station."

"What? Well alright, but what about the boy that took the body?"

The other policeman spoke for the first time. "I'm sure we'll find him, he won't be that hard to track if he's dragging a body around. You know kids these days."

The man nodded confused. "Oh, alright then."

A moment of silence ensued as they walked toward the exit.

Then a spark of recognition lit in the man's eyes. He rounded on the two policemen in fury.

"Wait a moment, I know that voice! You're the bastard that hung up on me!"

The man had to be restrained before he was brought in. He tried suing the men. It didn't work. Then to escape charges for assault on a policeman, he claimed temporal insanity. The policemen were only happy to second him, also filling in about the reason they were called to the morgue at all.

It was not a good day for the man.

* * *

Kudo Yukiko hummed happily as she picked up the phone. "Moshi moshi?"

Kudo Yuusaku turned another page on his newspaper. He sipped his coffee and sank deeper in the soft armchair he sat in. There was the sound of his wife chirpily answering the phone in the background, and all was well in the world. He loved fancy hotel rooms.

"Yuu-chan?"

"Yes, dear?"

"The man on the phone says our son was found dead in a park!"

She appeared distraught. Yuusaku's hummed as he turned another page, not even looking up. "Well, did you ask if they confirmed his death?"

His wife blinked, then smiled sheepishly at her forgetfulness. She went back to the conversation, her head popping out of the doorway a moment later. "They said he was quite dead when they checked up on him at the murder scene."

"Well, do they have an autopsy report yet?" Yuusaku was quite sure Megure-keibu would know he had their permission for one, even if Shinichi died by choking on a grapefruit. Hmm, that would make a good plot for his new book, actually…

Sounds of conversation drifted over him as he took another sip of his coffee. "…well yes, you said that… oh come on, don't be ridiculous… no, but have you never read crime stories before? There are hundreds of ways… just be a dear and look it up…"

The sound of a phone being put back in the cradle finally made him look up. Yukiko came in with her own cup of coffee and sat on the couch, hastily turning the television on. She had already missed the beginning of the movie she wanted to see. And it was a premiere too!

"Well?" he asked.

"What? Oh, the phone call! No, the body disappeared from the morgue. The man was quite baffled, some even think it fell out on the way there."

"On the way to the morgue?"

"Mhmmm."

A moment of silence, except for the movie sounds. Another turn of the newspaper page.

"Yuu-chan, do you think we should go back home to check up on him?"

"Check up on whom?"

"Shin-chan, dear. Who knows what trouble he got up to by now."

Yuusaku mulled over the suggestion. It _would_ be nice to see their son and the whole police department again (they were all almost like a giant family of distant cousins by now), but the deadline for his next book was coming up soon and his editors already knew he had a hideout there. He slowly shook his head. "No, I don't think there's any rush, we can wait a bit longer. But you can call Agasa-hakase to check up on him, if you want."

"Okay, will do! Just let me watch the movie to the end."

"Yes, dear."

Life at the Kudo's continued on its way.

* * *

The small boy panted heavily as he glared at the device on the entrance gate to his house.

"Yes, I am!

"No, you're not!"

"I am!"

"Not!"

"Am!"

"Not!"

"Am!"

"Not!"

"Am!"

"Not!"

"Hakase, when I say I am Shinichi, then I _am_-"

"No~o~ot!"

Shinichi panted some more, wishing he could punch the professor in the face, or at least the device blocking his way. But he was too short to reach it. The speaker appeared to smoke from his glare.

"Alright, alright, have it your way then. I'll just go bring Ran, who WILL believe me, and then I'll laugh as she shows you her right hook! Perhaps THEN, when you're lying in the hospital with a broken arm with me laughing over you, THEN you will believe me!"

The speaker fell silent for a moment.

"…Now, little boy, let's not rush things, Ran-kun can be quite vicious when she- hey, how do you even know her? Are you a stalker or something?"

"No, I'm-"

"Yes, you're Shinichi-kun. But, if you _are_ him, you would have known the gate password, wouldn't you? And I might've believed you before, but even Shinichi-kun wouldn't threaten me with Ran. He's not that cruel. That doesn't help your case, you know."

Shinichi growled. The sound was almost primal. "Hakase, you'll find that one's patience isn't quite the same when they had just woken up and escaped from a morgue, only to run five blocks in overgrown clothes, chased by dogs, and show up at their own home AND THEN be denied access!"

And he couldn't reach high enough to type in the password, but damned if the professor knew that.

"Well, that's a funny story you have there- oh wait, I have a phone call, hang on a moment."

Shinichi seethed.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the line, inside the house, Professor Agasa blinked during a phone call. And blinked again.

"Could you please repeat that, Yukiko-san?"

Talking.

"But he wasn't dead? He disappeared from the morgue?" Some more talking. "Well, that baffles me too, there _are_ plenty of crime stories..." More chirpy talking. "Yes, I suppose he _should_ be returning by now, I'll be on the lookout… Yes, goodbye, thanks for informing me."

He ended the call, still staring at the receiver in astonishment.

"Huh, from the morgue."

What doesn't that boy get into these days. This particular adventure has got to trump all the others, however. He was fairly sure nothing could surprise him anymore.

Abruptly, he remembered the boy he had been arguing with for the last hour. He looked out of the window again, catching sight of a small Shinichi-look-alike gripping the gates with both hands, head stuck between the bars and eyes glaring at him as he positively frothed at the mouth.

'…_woken up and escaped from __a morgue…"_

Oh dear.

* * *

_And the rest is canon, or something like that xD _

_Just to clear things up, the one thing that changes everything is that the APTX 4869 doesn't just shrink you ten years and burns off the body mass like in canon, but it also leaves you in a temporarily dead state with a VERY slow heartbeat before the change sets in. btw, I claim temporal insanity too when I was writing this. The credit for that idea goes to RoxyConanKun, whose suggestion I've had saved up since three months ago. Finally it had its use :D_

_EDIT: FFN just loves eating my line breaks, sadly it took me some time to realize. Also, I reread this a year after writing it. Laughed my head off. Sometimes I surprise myself XD  
_


End file.
